Characterisation and Mechanical Modelling of Polyacrylonitrile-Based Nanocomposite Membranes Reinforced with Silica Nanoparticles

Abstract

In this study, neat polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and fumed silica (FS)-doped PAN membranes (0.1, 0.5 and 1 wt% doped PAN/FS) are prepared using the phase inversion method and are characterised extensively. According to the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis, the addition of FS to the neat PAN membrane and the added amount changed the stresses in the membrane structure. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) results show that the addition of FS increased the porosity of the membrane. The water content of all fabricated membranes varied between 50% and 88.8%, their porosity ranged between 62.1% and 90%, and the average pore size ranged between 20.1 and 21.8 nm. While the neat PAN membrane’s pure water flux is 299.8 L/m2 h, it increased by 26% with the addition of 0.5 wt% FS. Furthermore, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) techniques are used to investigate the membranes’ thermal properties. Finally, the mechanical characterisation of manufactured membranes is performed experimentally with tensile testing under dry and wet conditions. To be able to provide further explanation to the explored mechanics of the membranes, numerical methods, namely the finite element method and Mori–Tanaka mean-field homogenisation are performed. The mechanical characterisation results show that FS reinforcement increases the membrane rigidity and wet membranes exhibit more compliant behaviour compared to dry membranes.

Using the Assembly Time as a Tool to Control the Surface Morphology and Separation Performance of Membranes with a Tannic Acid–Fe3+ Selective Layer

“…FTIR spectroscopy was used to investigate the deposition of TA-Fe 3+ selective layers on the microporous PAN support. As illustrated in Figure 2 a, the PAN substrate shows its absorption band for the nitrile group (C≡N stretching vibration) at 2242 cm −1 [ 41 ]. The bands at 2937 and 1453 cm −1 correspond to the CH 2 vibration peak and the bending of the C-H bond in CH 2 , respectively.…”

Application of Surface-Modified Nanoclay in a Hybrid Adsorption-Ultrafiltration Process for Enhanced Nitrite Ions Removal: Chemometric Approach vs. Machine Learning

“…The aim of the study presented in this section was to test a more retentive porous membrane for the removal of nitrite ions under the optimal conditions established previously by the SVM model (i.e., SD = 0.674% w / v and pH 7.0). The more retentive porous membrane was prepared in laboratory conditions using the phase-inversion method [ 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ]. In this respect, the non-reactive thermoplastic co-polymer PVDF-HFP was used as the primary polymeric material for membrane fabrication.…”

Electrospun Silica-Polyacrylonitrile Nanohybrids for Water Treatments

“…The addition of inorganic particles into a polymer matrix can improve the mechanical property of the membrane. However, too much of such an addition in the matrix can lead to a decrease in tensile strength [ 54 ].…”