Effect of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on polyvinyl alcohol/polyvinyl pyrrolidone composite membranes

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) blended polymeric membrane were prepared using solution casting method by embedding varying amount of titanium oxide (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles (NPs). X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and single gas permeation measurements were used to characterize the structural, thermal and permeation properties of the prepared membranes. Crystalline nature of the prepared membranes was confirmed by XRD pattern. FESEM confirmed the dispersion of TiO 2 NPs in the polymer matrix. In terms of PVA/PVP polymer and TiO 2 nanoparticle deposition, FT-IR confirms the molecular structure of membranes. TGA analysis revealed that the TiO 2 -loaded membranes were more thermally stable than the pure polymeric membrane. The influence of TiO 2 NPs on the gas permeability and the selectivity of the pure and mixed matrix membrane (MMMs) for H 2 , N 2 , O 2 and CH 4 gases was examined at room temperature with various feed pressure. Membrane permeability and the selectivity increased significantly with increasing the TiO 2 NPs concentration. With increasing the feed pressure, the permeability of the membranes reduced considerably while the selectivity improved slightly. Graphical abstract