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Robust and fouling-resistant ultrathin membranes for water purification tailored via semi-dissolved electrospun nanofibers

Energy-efficient membranes with high mechanical strength and fouling resistance is highly required in the current membrane industry. In this research, a novel type of water purification membrane was fabricated using a nylon 6 nanofiber membrane as a base polymer and further mechanical processing. Th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of cleaner production 2023-09, Vol.418, p.138056, Article 138056
Main Authors: Yanar, Numan, Liang, Yejin, Yang, Eunmok, Kim, Minbeom, Kim, Hyeonseo, Byun, Jaehyun, Son, Moon, Choi, Heechul
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Energy-efficient membranes with high mechanical strength and fouling resistance is highly required in the current membrane industry. In this research, a novel type of water purification membrane was fabricated using a nylon 6 nanofiber membrane as a base polymer and further mechanical processing. The electrospun nylon 6 membrane was first semi-dissolved by spraying diluted formic acid solvent, then re-casted by thermal rolling, and a very-tight ultrafiltration membrane named SP6 was obtained. Fabricated SP6 had an ultrathin thickness of 9 μm and ultimately high mechanical strength (53 MPa). Owing to the enhanced hydrophilicity and ultra-low thickness, a 59 ± 7 LMH water flux was observed for SP6. Furthermore, SP6 showed 98 ± 0.85% humic acid (H.A) and 92.13 ± 0.46% organic dye rejection. When an organic fouling study was conducted (8 h H.A. fouling tests with 30 min DI water filtration/flushing in between), SP6 had only a 20% drop, which also recovered up to 90% after 30 min of DI water filtration. After the fouling test was completed, significantly less foulant (2817 ± 1503 μm3) was observed on the surface of SP6 (on the 500*500 μm2 surface area), in line with the trend for the flux recovery. Therefore, this novel approach utilizing semi-dissolved nanofibers as fabrication material could represent a path for fabricating membranes with great longevity for practical applications. •A new fabrication method based on the re-casting and semi-dissolving is introduced.•High permselectivity is obtained at a very low operating pressure.•High tensile strength due to the interconnected pore structure is obtained.•Fouling resistance performance outranged the conventional membranes.
ISSN:0959-6526
1879-1786
DOI:10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.138056