Electrospinning of Polymeric Nanofibers for Membrane Separation Processes

Membrane separation processes have very important role in separation industry. This research is to develop novel nanofibrous membranes via electrospinning for the membrane separation processes. The membrane separation process provides advantages in terms of cost competitiveness in the purification industry because they operate with out additional electric power supply or gathering procedure of adsorbents. Electrospinning is an effective nanofabrication method for preparing nanofibrous membranes with diameters ranging form 5 to 500 nm or higher, which are 102 to 104 times smaller than those prepared by the traditional method of solution or melt spinning. It also has the advantages of fabricating nanofibers from a huge range of materials. This proposal will include a three-stage research and be competed in three years. For the first year research, this study will attempt to develop rhodanine loaded nanofibrous membranes for the removal of heavy metal ions for water purification. Rhodanine and polymethylmethacrylate dissolved in 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro -2-propanol (HFIP) will be electrospun into nanofibrous membranes via an electrospinning process. The morphology of as-spun rhodanine/ polymethylmethacrylate nanofibers will be examined by scanning electron microscopy. The influence of various processing parameters on the fiber diameter distribution and morphology of electrospun membranes will be investigated. The metal removal efficiency will be measured by an inductively coupled plasma. In addition, the adsorption capability of nanofibrous rhodanine/polymethylmethacrylate membranes will also be measured and compared with that of bulk rhodanine. The second part of this proposal will focus on the separation of different gases using the electrospun nanofibrous membranes. A special device for the membrane separation of gases will designed and built in our lab. Different polymeric materials including PES and PSF etc. will be employed for the membranes. TiO2 and zeolite will also be used as the additives for the membranes. After membrane separation, the gas chromatography will be employed to quantify the separated gases and the overall gas separation efficiency. Furthermore, the effects of various processing parameters on the efficiency of gas separation will also be investigated. In the third year, the developed nanofibrous membranes will be used for the purification of ethanol. A device for the separation of water and ethanol will be designed and built in our lab. Different polymeric materials including, PAN, PES and PSF, will be employed for the membranes. The gas chromatography will be employed to examine the purification efficiency of ethanol. The influence of fiber morphology on the purification efficiency of ethanol will also be investigated. The final goal of this research is to develop various nanofibrous membranes via electrospinning for the membrane separation processes. It is also hoped that the developed membranes in this study can be used in the separation industries for the separation of different materials. This will provide advantages in terms of cost competitiveness.

Project ID:PB10401-0086
External Project ID:NSC102-2221-E182-071-MY3