Synthesis and Characterization of Pure and Ag-TiO2-Modified Diatomaceous Aluminosilicate Ceramic Membranes for Water Remediation

Mesoporous ceramic membranes were prepared from raw and modified diatomaceous earth alumi-nosilicate mineral precursors. The main modification component of the ceramic membranes was Ag-loaded TiO2 nanoparticles (STOX). Chemical and microstructural characterizations of the raw materials and the modified precursors were carried out using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy, Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE-IBA), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The precursors and membranes were prepared and subsequently subjected to a high temperature sintering treatment for physico-chemical modification and stability. Remediation functionalities of the ceramic membranes on water samples were studied using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS), Total Bacterial Count Enumeration;Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), pH, and Electroconductivity (EC). Remediation experiments showed reductions in the concentration of certain cations such as Mg2+, Mn2+, Cd2+, Ni2+ and K+ by the modified ceramic membrane samples, while increased concentrations were observed for Ca2+, Na+ and Mg2+. The antimicrobial microfiltration process showed 100% bacterial removal and 70% fungi removal in most of the samples. Membranes exhibited good flux output from 5.607 L/hr·m2 (STOX-Z) to 39.245 L/hr·m2 (ZEO-T) under a pressure of 0.0196 MPa.

Synthesis and Characterization of Metal Organic Chemical Vapour Deposited Copper Titanium Oxide (Cu-Ti-O) Thin Films from Single Solid Source Precursor

Thin films of copper titanium oxide were deposited by metal organic chemical vapour deposition technique from the synthesized single solid source precursor, copper titanium acetylacatonate Cu [Ti(C5H7O2)3] at the deposition temperature of 420°C. The deposited films were characterized using Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-Ray facility attached to it, X-Ray Diffractometry, UV-Visible Spectrometry and van-der Pauw Conductivity measurement. Results show that the thickness of the prepared film is determined as 101.236 nm and the film is amorphous in structure, having average grain size of approximately 1 μm. The optical behaviour showed that the absorption edge of the film was at 918 nm near infrared with corresponding direct energy band gap of 1.35 eV. The electrical characterization of the film gave the values of resistivity, sheet resistance and conductivity of the film as 3.43 × 10-1 Ω-cm, 3.39 × 106 Ω/square and 2.91 (Ω-cm)-1 respectively.