Study of Hydrophilic Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes for Filtration of Micro and Nanosize Suspended Particles

Membranes

Ramazan Asmatulu¹  Harish Muppalla²  Zeinab Veisi¹  Waseem S. Khan¹  Abu Asaduzzaman² 

[1] Department of Mechanical Engineering, Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount, Wichita, KS 67260, USA; E-Mails:;Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount, Wichita, KS 67260, USA; E-Mails:

关键词: electrospun nanofiber;    water filtration;    hydrophilic membranes;    micro and nanosize particles;    filtration;   

DOI  :  10.3390/membranes3040375

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Polymeric nanofiber membranes of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) blended with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) were fabricated using an electrospinning process at different conditions and used for the filtration of three different liquid suspensions to determine the efficiency of the filter membranes. The three liquid suspensions included lake water, abrasive particles from a water jet cutter, and suspended magnetite nanoparticles. The major goal of this research work was to create highly hydrophilic nanofiber membranes and utilize them to filter the suspended liquids at an optimal level of purification (i.e., drinkable level). In order to overcome the fouling/biofouling/blocking problems of the membrane, a coagulation process, which enhances the membrane’s efficiency for removing colloidal particles, was used as a pre-treatment process. Two chemical agents, Tanfloc (organic) and Alum (inorganic), were chosen for the flocculation/coagulation process. The removal efficiency of the suspended particles in the liquids was measured in terms of turbidity, pH, and total dissolved solids (TDS). It was observed that the coagulation/filtration experiments were more efficient at removing turbidity, compared to the direct filtration process performed without any coagulation and filter media.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.