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Title: Hydrophilic, light active coating for membranes

Patent ·
OSTI ID:1632455

A porous membrane provides enhanced filtration of pollutants and particles by coating the membrane with conformal thin films of doped titanium dioxide via atomic layer deposition or, alternatively, sequential infiltration synthesis. The membrane can either be organic or inorganic, and the doping of the membrane, usually with nitrogen, is an important feature that shifts the optical absorption of the TiO2 from the UV range into the visible-light range. This enables the use of lower energy light, including sunlight, to activate the photocatalytic function of the film. The coating described in the present invention is compatible with virtually any porous membrane and allows for precise tuning of the pore size with molecular precision. The present invention presents a new coating process and chemical structure that provides catalytic activity, strongly enhanced by light, to both mitigate fouling and break down various organic pollutants in the process stream.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
Assignee:
UChicago Argonne, LLC (Chicago, IL)
Patent Number(s):
10,537,858
Application Number:
15/002,102
OSTI ID:
1632455
Resource Relation:
Patent File Date: 01/20/2016
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (7)

Effect of nitrogen doping concentration on the properties of TiO2 films grown by atomic layer deposition journal April 2011
Inorganic–organic core–shell titania nanoparticles for efficient visible light activated photocatalysis journal February 2013
Deep-level optical spectroscopy investigation of N-doped TiO2 films journal March 2005
Visible-Light Photocatalysis in Nitrogen-Doped Titanium Oxides journal July 2001
Influence of Nitrogen Doping on the Defect Formation and Surface Properties of TiO 2 Rutile and Anatase journal January 2006
Atomic layer deposition of TiO2−xNx thin films for photocatalytic applications journal January 2006
Visible light active TiO2 photocatalytic filtration membranes with improved permeability and low energy consumption journal April 2014

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