The compounds found in industrial wastewater typically show high toxicity, and in this way, they have become a primary environmental concern. Several techniques have been applied in industrial effluent remediation. In spite of the efforts, these techniques are yet to be ineffective to treat oily wastewater before it can be discharged safely to the environment. Membrane technology is an attractive approach to treat oily wastewater. This is dedicated to the immobilisation of TiO₂ nanoparticles on poly(vinylidene fluoride–trifluoro ethylene) (PVDF-TrFE) porous matrix by solvent casting. Membranes with interconnected pores with an average diameter of 60 µm and a contact angle of 97°, decorated with TiO₂ nanoparticles, are obtained. The degradation of oily wastewater demonstrated the high photocatalytic efficiency of the nanocomposite membranes: Under sunlight irradiation for seven hours, colourless water was obtained.

Two significant limitations of using TiO₂ nanoparticles for water treatment applications are reduced photocatalytic activity under visible radiation and difficulty recovering the particles after use. In this study, round-shaped Ag@TiO₂ nanocomposites with a ≈21 nm diameter and a bandgap energy of 2.8 eV were synthesised by a deposition-precipitation method. These nanocomposites were immobilised into a porous poly (vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) matrix and well-distributed within the pores. The photocatalytic activity of Ag@TiO₂/PVDF-HFP against metronidazole (MNZ) under solar radiation was evaluated. Further, an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) was applied to predict the effect of four independent variables, including initial pollutant concentration, pH, light irradiation intensity, and reaction time, on the photocatalytic performance of the composite membrane on MNZ degradation. The 10% Ag@TiO₂/PVDF-HFP composite membrane showed a maximum removal efficiency of 100% after 5 h under solar radiation. After three use cycles, this efficiency remained practically constant, demonstrating the membranes’ reusability and suitability for water remediation applications.

Over the last decades, the growing contamination of wastewater, mainly caused by industrial processes, improper sewage, natural calamities, and a variety of anthropogenic activities, has caused an increase in water-borne diseases. Notably, industrial applications require careful consideration as they pose significant threats to human health and ecosystem biodiversity due to the production of persistent and complex contaminants. The present work reports on the development, characterization, and application of a poly (vinylidene fluoride—hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) porous membrane for the remediation of a wide range of contaminants from wastewater withdrawn from industrial applications. The PVDF-HFP membrane showed a micrometric porous structure with thermal, chemical, and mechanical stability and a hydrophobic nature, leading to high permeability. The prepared membranes exhibited simultaneous activity on the removal of organic matter (total suspended and dissolved solids, TSS, and TDS, respectively), the mitigation of salinity in 50%, and the effective removal of some inorganic anions and heavy metals, achieving efficiencies around 60% for nickel, cadmium, and lead. The membrane proved to be a suitable approach for wastewater treatment, as it showed potential for the simultaneous remediation of a wide range of contaminants. Thus, the as-prepared PVDF-HFP membrane and the designed membrane reactor represent an efficient, straightforward, and low-cost alternative as a pretreatment step for continuous treatment processes for simultaneous organic and inorganic contaminants’ remediation in real industrial effluent sources.

The photodegradation of tartrazine anionic dye has been carried out using TiO₂–chitosan beads (CTC). The as-synthesized CTC was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive analysis of X-ray (EDAX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The enhanced photocatalytic activity of CTC for the degradation of tartrazine dyes was attributed to the synergistic effect of TiO₂ and chitosan (CS). The photodegradation experiments were carried out by varying different parameters such as initial dye concentration, pH, irradiation time, and light intensity.The results showed that the percentage of tartrazine dye removal increased with decreasing initial dye concentration and increasing irradiation time. The experimental results show that under sun light irradiation, 99.37% of tartrazine is removed after 180 min using TiO₂–chitosan beads. The best photoactivity is obtained for a concentration of 10 mg/L and a catalyst dose of 0.25 g at free pH.

The presence of contaminants of emerging concern (CEC), such as pharmaceuticals, in water sources is one of the main concerns nowadays due to their hazardous properties causing severe effects on human health and ecosystem biodiversity. Niflumic acid (NFA) is a widely used anti-inflammatory drug, and it is known for its non-biodegradability and resistance to chemical and biological degradation processes. In this work, a 10 wt.% TiO₂/PVDF–TrFE nanocomposite membrane (NCM) was prepared by the solvent casting technique, fully characterized, and implemented on an up-scaled photocatalytic membrane reactor (PMR). The photocatalytic activity of the NCM was evaluated on NFA degradation under different experimental conditions, including NFA concentration, pH of the media, irradiation time and intensity. The NCM demonstrated a remarkable photocatalytic efficiency on NFA degradation, as efficiency of 91% was achieved after 6 h under solar irradiation at neutral pH. The NCM proved effective in long-term use, with maximum efficiency losses of 7%. An artificial neural network (ANN) model was designed to model NFA’s photocatalytic degradation behavior, demonstrating a good agreement between experimental and predicted data, with an R² of 0.98. The relative significance of each experimental condition was evaluated, and the irradiation time proved to be the most significant parameter affecting the NFA degradation efficiency. The designed ANN model provides a reliable framework l for modeling the photocatalytic activity of TiO₂/PVDF-TrFE and related NCM.

Photocatalysis of food dye (tartrazine) was studied using TiO₂/ZnAl-LDH material derived from layered-double hydroxide structure, which were synthesized by co-precipitation method. The catalyst was characterized using Fourier-transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis, and scanning electron microscope (SEM), combined with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The photodegradation experiments were carried out by varying different parameters such as initial dye concentration, pH, irradiation time, and dose photocatalyst. Tartrazine mineralization was also studied by calculating the degradation of chemical oxygen demand. The reusability of TiO₂/ZnAl-LDH catalysts was studied and its photocatalytic efficiency was found to be unchanged, even after six cycles of use. The degradation of food dye is achieved at a natural pH 6 and catalyst content of 1 g/L after 120 min under sun with a maximum percentage of degradation 82%. The results of kinetic studies correspond to the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model.