Biodegradable nanofiber membranes for waste water decontamination

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Novel biodegradable nanofilter membrane (BCD-PDA@PLA) was developed by electrospinning poly(L-lactic acid) (PLA) nanofibers as the scaffold, which were then surface modified with polydopamine (PDA) and β-cyclodextrin (BCD), respectively. The aim of dopamine coating is to cover the hydrophobic PLA surface with a hydrophilic layer. BCD not only improves the hydrophilic character of the nanofibers but gives extra cavities with the ability to form inclusion complexes with the pollutants.

The separation of oil-in-water emulsions modeled by toluene-in-water system stabilized by Tween 80 as the surfactant was more efficient using BCD-PDA@PLA membrane than PDA@PLA membrane. The separation efficiency is improved as the BCD concentration is increased on the membrane surface.

The BCD-PDA@PLA membrane showed high (>95%) adsorption capacity toward cationic pollutants, such as methylene blue through several adsorption-desorption cycles using wastewater containing 3 ppm methylene blue and 3 vol% toluene. The membrane was regenerated with HCl solution, ethanol and water.
Yan-Li Kang, Jie Zhang, Gang Wu, Ming xuan Zhang, Si-Chong Chen and Yu-Zhong Wang Full-biobased Nanofiber Membranes towards Decontamination of Waste-water Containing Multiple Pollutants
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.,  2018 10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b01996

 

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