Electrospun nanofibrous polyvinylidene fluoride‐co‐hexafluoropropylene membranes for oil–water separation

Abstract

Effective separation of oil from water is of significant importance globally for various applications such as wastewater treatment, oil spill cleanup, and oil purification. Among the numerous approaches for oil removal, membrane separation is considered one of the most promising approaches due to its selectivity and ease of operation. Electrospinning is a promising technique for producing polymeric membranes with tunable structures with interconnected pores, large surface area, and high porosity. In this study, hydrophobic poly(vinylidene fluoride‐co‐hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF‐HFP) nanofibrous membranes were electrospun and used for this purpose. The effects of various parameters (e.g., polymer concentration, applied voltage, tip to collector distance, and feed rate) were investigated to find the optimum electrospinning conditions. Further, the electrospun membranes were characterized according to average fiber diameter, morphology, average pore size, and wettability to identify the combinations most likely to succeed in oil–water filtration. The physical–chemical properties of the membranes (i.e., thickness, areal density, porosity, average pore size, water/oil contact angle, hydrostatic pressure head, and oil filtration flux) were studied based on standard test methods. The separation efficiency of eight electrospun membranes with various pore sizes and average fiber diameters were tested for diesel/water mixtures. A linear relation was found between the initial oil flux and the average pore size of the membranes. The maximum oil filtration flux of about 224 L/m2/h, achieving over 75% oil recovery in 10 min, was obtained for the electrospun membrane with the average pore size of 4.5 μm. The membranes were successfully used for eight consecutive oil–water separation cycles without noticeable loss of flux.

Fabrication and Characterization of Nanofibers Membranes using Electrospinning Technology for Oil Removal

“…The SEM image for the pristine Nano-fiber PVDF demonstrated that permeable microstructure of consistently stuffed microspheres at a distance across of 4-5 micron. Also, the surface of the PVDF/Graphene hybrid Nano-fiber membranes contains small microspheres that connect with each other as also reported by other researchers (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18). Moreover, the hierarchic micro/nanoscale structures contribute to the hydrophobicity nature of the prepared membranes.…”

Electrospun PVDF Nanofibers for Piezoelectric Applications: A Review of the Influence of Electrospinning Parameters on the β Phase and Crystallinity Enhancement

“…A high surface area of nanofibers provides modifications on bioactivity (e.g., increase of the cell proliferation), electroactivity, strength, etc. The applications of nanofibers cover various aspects, such as filter materials [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ], electronic technology (e.g., nanoelectronics, optical sensors, battery electrode materials, and capacitors) [ 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ], biomedical science (e.g., such as tissue engineering and drug delivery) [ 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 ], and catalyst supports [ 50 , 51 ]. There are different methods based on the top-down or bottom-up approaches to produce nanofibers, as shown in Figure 1 .…”

Eco‐friendly foams of castor oil based‐polyurethane with Artemisia residue fillers for discarded vegetable oil sorption

“…Different techniques have been reported to remove oil contaminants from water, such as filtration, 16,17 reverse osmosis, 18 gravity separation, 19 air flotation, 20 ionic flocculation, 21 adsorption, 22 and gel 23 . Among all these methods, the adsorption process is highlighted due to its efficiency, relatively lower processing cost, and simple design 24 .…”