Journal
POLYMERS
Volume 13, Issue 21, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/polym13213710
Keywords
halloysite; copolyamide; membrane; emulsion separation; contact angle
Categories
Funding
- Qatar University Collaborative Grant [QUCG-CAM 20/21-4]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
This study successfully synthesized polymer-clay nanocomposite nanofibers using electrospinning technique, and investigated the influence of clay content on their properties, confirming their effective use for oil/water emulsion separation.
To address the problem of ever-increasing oily wastewater management, due to its directional liquid transport property, membranes with asymmetric wettability can be effectively used for emulsion separation. This study reports the synthesis of electrospun polymer-clay nanocomposite nanofibers, using co-polyamide polymer (COPA) and halloysite nanotubes (HA) as filler. The influence of clay content on the morphological, thermal and dielectric properties of the polymer composite nanofiber was investigated comprehensively to address the material characteristics of the developed system. The surface structure analysis and contact angle measurements of the electrospun composite nanofibers confirms the change in surface roughness and wettability when the fillers are added to the polymer. The porosity of the composite electrospun nanofiber membrane was found to be 85% with an oil adsorption capacity of 97% and water permeability of 6265 L/m(2) h. Furthermore, the asymmetric wettability-driven oil/water emulsion separation abilities of the as-synthesized membranes shows that the separation efficiency of the composite fiber membrane is 10% improved compared to that of the neat fiber membrane, with improved separation time.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available