Development of a superhydrophilic nanofiber membrane for oil/water emulsion separation via modification of polyacrylonitrile/polyaniline composite

Abstract

In this research, polyaniline (PANI) was used to modify polyacrylonitrile (PAN) electrospun nanofibers for separating oil/water (O/W) emulsions due to its hydrophilic amino groups and simple synthesis. The fabrication of PAN/PANI membranes was carried out by two different methods: blending of PANI with PAN in pre‐electrospinning solution and coating of PANI on the PAN electrospun nanofibers using in situ polymerization of aniline. The effect of PANI composition (10, 20, 30 and 40 wt% with respect to the weight of PAN) and electrospinning temperature (25°C, 40°C and 55°C) was investigated in PAN/PANI membrane fabrication. The prepared membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), water and under water oil contact angle (WCA and UOCA) measurement and mechanical tensile test. Regarding the results, PAN/40%PANI nanofibers prepared at 40°C was considered as the superhydrophilic nanofibers (WCA < 5°) and the most suitable membrane among the samples for separation of O/W emulsions. Separation studies revealed a flux of 1300 Lmh (pure water) under gravity and an efficient oil rejection of about 98.8% for PAN/40%PANI@40°C membrane. Hence, the PAN/40%PANI@40°C membrane was subjected to additional tests including separation of different industrial oils, emulsion separation with surfactant agent, separation under harsh acidic/basic conditions and fouling test. The results confirmed an efficient performance of the obtained superhydrophilic membrane for O/W separation, which make it a potential candidate for the purification of water from industrial organic pollutant.

Facile ultrasonic preparation of a polypyrrole membrane as an absorbent for efficient oil-water separation and as an antimicrobial agent

“… Adsorbent material Fabrication method Emulsion type The amount of oil absorbed (%) Ref. PPy/Ag fabricPPy/Ag/OTS fabric Gentle magnetic stirring Water in chloroform emulsion 96.84 [36] Water in n-hexane emulsion 95.68 Methylbenzene in water emulsion 99.85 PAN/PANI nanofiber Electrospinning-Polymerization Surfactant free-toluene in oil emulsion 99.8 [42] 1sBAT/PAN Blending-Electrospinning Surfactant free-hexane in oil emulsion 99.8 [43] Au@ZIF-8@PAN-TD Blending-Electrospinning-Surface modification Surfactant stabilized oil-in-water emulsion 97.8 [44] PAN/PS Double layer electrospinning Surfactant stabilized hexane-in-water emulsion – [45] Laponite/CGN/h-PAN Layer by layer modification Surfactant stabilized n-hexadecane-in-water emulsion > 99 [46] PVA-SiO2/PDA/PEI – Surfactant stabilized oil-in-water microemulsion 99.5 [47] PVP-TiO2 NPs – Gasoline-in-water emulsion >99 [48] PPY membrane Ultra-sonication method Cooking oil 93 This work Vacuum oil 81 Toluene 70 …”

Thermal Degradation Kinetics and Modeling Study of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWP)/Graphene Nanocomposite

“…The advanced Bi-supported Ziegler–Natta catalytic systems were used to prepare UHMWPE/graphene nanocomposites by in situ polymerization [ 31 , 32 ]. In the first step, graphite powder was vacuum-dried for 6 h at 200 °C.…”

Nylon—A material introduction and overview for biomedical applications

“…Electrospun nanofibers, with their porous structure and high surface‐to‐volume ratio, have been investigated in various fields, including tissue engineering, filtration membranes, and drug delivery systems 102–105 . The major benefit of nanofibrous carriers is that they provide site‐specific drug delivery to the human body 106 .…”