On-Site Application of Solar-Activated Membrane (Cr–Mn-Doped TiO(2)@Graphene Oxide) for the Rapid Degradation of Toxic Textile Effluents

Solar-activated water treatment has become an emerging research field due to its eco-friendly nature and the economic feasibility of green photocatalysis. Herein, we synthesized promising, cost-effective, and ultralong-semiconductor TiO(2) nanowires (NW), with the aim to degrade toxic azo dyes. The band gap of TiO(2) NW was tuned through transition metals, i.e., chromium (Cr) and manganese (Mn), and narrowed by conjugation with high surface area graphene oxide (GO) sheets. Cr–Mn-doped TiO(2) NWs were chemically grafted onto GO nanosheets and polymerized with sodium alginate to form a mesh network with an excellent band gap (2.6 eV), making it most suitable to act as a solar photocatalytic membrane. Cr–Mn-doped TiO(2) NW @GO aerogels possess high purity and crystallinity confirmed by Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction pattern. A Cr–Mn-doped TiO(2) NW @GO aerogels membrane was tested for the photodegradation of Acid Black 1 (AB 1) dye. The synthesized photocatalytic membrane in the solar photocatalytic reactor at conditions optimized by response surface methodology (statistical model) and upon exposure to solar radiation (within 180 min) degraded 100% (1.44 kg/m(3)/day) AB 1dye into simpler hydrocarbons, confirmed by the disappearance of dye color and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. An 80% reduction in water quality parameters defines Cr–Mn-doped TiO(2) NW @GO aerogels as a potential photocatalytic membrane to degrade highly toxic pollutants.