Fabrication of a catalytic polymer composite sheet enabling visible light-driven photocatalytic disinfection of water

Recently, photocatalytic water treatment has become an attractive technology in water treatment due to its environmentally friendly nature. But separation of a photocatalyst from the produced water is the main obstacle in the development of photocatalytic water treatment processes. Here, a photocatalytic polymer composite was fabricated by dispersing Ag/BiVO₄ into polyethersulfone matrix which resolves the latter issue. By a very simple procedure, photocatalyst particles were concentrated on one side of the sheet, which is exposed to light. The resultant composite was able to successfully disinfect water under visible light (λ > 420 nm). The effect of photocatlyst on degradation of the polymer matrix under visible light was also investigated. PES-Ag/BiVO₄ composite was characterized using field emission scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and UV–visible spectroscopy. Antibacterial activity of the composite was tested against Escherichia coli as model bacteria.