Titanium dioxide electrospun nanofibers for dye removal- A review

Abstract

Due to rapid urbanization and industrialization, water demand has increased worldwide. The availability of potable water is becoming more difficult in the global scenario. Hazardous pollution disposal by the industries to the nearest stream and search for the facile environmentally friendly technologies capable of treating these pollutants become more challenging. Effluent disposal consisting of the dyes without proper pre-treatment adversely affects the aquatic life and ecological system as they are carcinogenic and highly toxic. Dyes in the water are becoming a significant problem in the current scenario and attracted many researchers to research the current topic. Even though the conventional treatment options are available for treating polluted water, still they are not enough for the demand and supply. Thus, new state-of-the-art technologies are required to meet the demand and supply. Titanium dioxide nanofibers synthesized by electrospinning techniques have proven to be new nanomaterials gaining prominence in science. Several researchers are using these fibres by fabricating them into a thin film for pollutant removal and water treatment. They are gaining much importance as they perform best in treating water containing both organic and inorganic loads. The present review provides insights into the background and the origin of the electrospun nanofibers and preparation mechanisms. Further, we identified 25 widely used titanium dioxide electrospun nanofibers with various combinations in removing the dyes from the aqueous medium.

A proposed Fuzzy logic model for Electrospun nanofiber pressurised membranes for water treatment- A review

“…The desalination technique is potent and reliable for potable water production for the people residing in the coastal areas by treating the seawater. Among these processes, reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration, electrodialysis, reverse osmosis and membrane distillation are efficient in terms of thermal and electrical energy usage (Konni et al, 2022). Nanofiltration and ultrafiltration are widely used pressure-driven techniques consisting of hallo and sheet-like nanofibers.…”

“…Modernization, industrialization, and the increase in population worldwide create significant water scarcity, one of the century's most critical challenges. (Drioli et al, 2021;Konni et al, 2022). As stated by the world trade organization, by 2025, the universal population will suffer from water scarcity.…”

“…Many researchers explored electrospinning, wet spinning, and phase inversion to the separation membrane and found electrospinning techniques are more efficient and gained much prominence. Electrospun membranes produced by the electrospinning technique have a lesser thickness, exhibit uniform dispersion, and have a high surface area, enhancing hydrophobicity and reducing resistance (Konni et al, 2022;Bölgen and Vaseashta, 2021;Vara et al, 2020) . Moreover, based on the methods and synthesis for fabricating these membranes, these can be polymeric composites; the membranes' preparation procedures and compositions determine their properties (Ismail et al, 2020).…”

“…Nanofibers produced by the electrospun technique exhibit significantly enhanced properties due to their surface/ mass ratio. Many researchers have proposed fluoropolymers and hydrocarbons for the fabrication of membranes by using electrospun techniques as they exhibit higher stability, entrapments of ions, minor pore blockage, and lower operational costs (Konni et al, 2022;Bölgen and Vaseashta, 2021;Vara et al, 2020). Many researchers have researched polypropylene, polyvinylidene difluoride, Creslan 61, polystyrene etc., in water applications (Elmarghany et al, 2020;Konni et al, 2022).…”

“…Many researchers have proposed fluoropolymers and hydrocarbons for the fabrication of membranes by using electrospun techniques as they exhibit higher stability, entrapments of ions, minor pore blockage, and lower operational costs (Konni et al, 2022;Bölgen and Vaseashta, 2021;Vara et al, 2020). Many researchers have researched polypropylene, polyvinylidene difluoride, Creslan 61, polystyrene etc., in water applications (Elmarghany et al, 2020;Konni et al, 2022). Recent investigations proved that incorporating nano additives enhances the filtration performance in removing the impurities as these additives strengthen the size of the pores, surface roughness and stabilities.…”