Superoleophilic and high‐strength electrospun membranes are promising materials for oil/water separation applications. Here we report the fabrication of a mechanically robust, hydrophobic polyurethane/multi‐walled carbon nanotube (PU/MWCNT) electrospun composite membrane for gravity‐driven oil/water separation. Various electrospun composite membranes with different MWCNT loadings were developed. Spinning parameters such as polymer concentration, solvent ratio, applied voltage, flow rate, and working distance were systematically optimized. The incorporation of MWCNT has increased the thermal stability, hydrophobicity, mechanical properties, and dye adsorption capacity of the PU membrane. The optimized composite fibrous membrane (PU/0.2‐MWCNT) exhibited a percentage elongation of 502%. All the PU/MWCNT composite membranes were found to be superoleophilic in nature. The optimized composite membrane showed the highest oil sorption capacity and lab‐scale oil flux of 14.21–24.07 gg−1 and 425.44 Lm−2 h−1, respectively. In the oil sorption process, all electrospun membranes were fitted to a pseudo second‐order kinetic model. Furthermore, electrospun composite membranes could adsorb toxic dye (Methylene blue) from the oil–water mixture. The PU/MWCNT composite membrane could be a potential candidate for oil/water separation applications.
A robust antifouling membrane with pollutant-removing capacity is in high demand for industrial wastewater treatment. Here, we report a new multifunctional polyurethane/montmorillonite-oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotube (PU/MMT) nanofibrous composite membrane, beneficial for both water filtra-
Piezoelectric
materials have gained interest among materials scientists
as body motion sensors and energy harvesters on account of their fast
responsiveness and substantial output signals. In this work, piezoelectric
polymer mats have been fabricated from ethylene-co-vinyl acetate–millable polyurethane/nanohydroxyapatite (EVA–MPU/nHA)
composite systems by employing the electrospinning technique. The
ferro-piezoelectric features of the samples were confirmed from the
butterfly loops of electrostatic force microscopy (EFM) amplitude
signals as well as through the hysteresis curves of the EFM phase
recorded with the assistance of dynamic-contact EFM. Piezoelectric
responses of the samples to random finger tapping were evaluated after
fabricating a simple device prototype connected to an oscilloscope.
The efficacy of the mats to generate a voltage in response to activities
such as mechanical bending, movement of throat muscles while drinking,
movement of elbow joints, air blowing, and so forth has also been
investigated. The results suggest the promising possibility of fabricating
user-friendly piezoelectric mats out of the EVA–MPU/nHA system
for physiological motion-sensing applications.
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