Water Treatment using Electrospun PVC/PVP Nanofibers as Filter Medium

Abstract

One of the prevailing problems afflicting everybody globally is the scarcity of clean and portable water supply. Water crisis constitutes a major issue to present status of world's water resources. Water pollution is now becoming a critical issue globally. Water filtration/purification with the latest technology is the urgent need in today's economy. Electrospun nanofibers with high filtration efficiency, small pore size, high permeability and low cost are materials of choice for many filtration applications. These outstanding properties are most suitable for filtration media. In this study, Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was dissolved in N, N-Dimethylacetamide (DMAC) and the small weight percentages of Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was added in order to make the nanoporous membrane surface hydrophilic for escalating the filtration performance rate and stainability. Two different water samples (dam water and city wastewater) were used in this study. For dam water sample, the parameter such as, PH, turbidity, TDS, conductivity, Ca++, Mg++, hardness, sulfates, nitrates, fluoride, chloride, alkalinity and silica were measured and found out to be 7.5, 24.33 NTU, 2526 mg/l, 5049 µS/cm, 111 mg/l, 57.76 mg/l, 447 mg/l of CaCO 3 , 78.17 mg/l, 2.98 mg/l, 1.05 mg/l, 1862.96 mg/l, 137.7 mg/l and 85.27 mg/l, respectively. Similarly, for wastewater sample, the parameters such as, PH, turbidity, TDS, conductivity, TSS, COD, BOD5, phosphate, ammonia, oil-greases and DO were measured and found out to be 7.7, 7.7 NTU, 1507.33 mg/l, 30122 µS/cm, 6 mg/l, 38.33 mg/l, 7.67 mg/l, 36.03 mg/l, 18.33 mg/l, 0 mg/l and 6.85mg/l, respectively.

A Review on Electrospun PVC Nanofibers: Fabrication, Properties, and Application

“…However, there was no report on the filtration efficiency of PVC fibers when adding PVP with different concentrations. In another publication, Alarifi et al [30] showed that hydrophobic PVC nanofibers did not affect the membrane filtration capacity. Adding PVP to PVC does not change the water contact angle (Table 8).…”

“…To solve this problem, it was demonstrated that adding DMF, which has a higher boiling point, to the THF solution will reduce the evaporation more slowly, and thereby fabricating the nanofiber is easier. However, to obtain fibers from PVC/ Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) blends, the use of DMA solvents proved to be more effective [30,31]. The types of solvents that are used to dissolve PVC for electrospinning are shown in Table 1.…”

“…As a result, when fabricating nanofibers from PVC blends, it is important to consider the use of polymers that are soluble in DMF, THF, and DMA. Some of these polymers are PVP [30], polystyrene (PS) [32], cellulose acetate (CA) [47], polyurethane (PU) [46], and others. In consequence, this narrows the range of applicable polymers that can be electrospun in conjunction with PVC.…”

“…Due to its excellent properties, previously mentioned, PVC nanofibers have expanded the area of application of PVC materials. PVC nanofibers have been used as a material for environmental applications (water filter, air filter, separator for water and oil), energy storage systems, anti-corrosive material, protective clothing, and so on [30][31][32].…”

Waste acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) incorporated with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) for potential water filtration membrane

“…66 The two mechanisms of water passing through the membrane are (1) water penetrates the porous membranes and (2) water seeps into the membranes. As mentioned above, PVP is a water-soluble material; 67,68 thus, a high PVP content will increase the permeability of the membrane. Therefore, it was evident that the lowest WCA was found in ABSP5.…”