Performance improvements in structural characteristics of chitosan-based nanofibrous composite membrane for using in liquid filtration

The chitosan-based electrospun nanofibrous composite membrane (ENCM) was fabricated based on electro-spinning of a high performance chitosan (CS) /Poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) mat on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) non-woven. Structural stability (i.e. water resistance and chemical resistance against acidic and basic solutions) of the nanofibrous layer was improved and confirmed by FT-IR, SEM, degree of stability and solubility tests. Also, performance improvement of the ENCMs through assessment of structural uniformity and interfacial stability of the nanofibrous layer onto the substrate was deduced. Plasma pre-treatment of the substrate and area-weight optimization was adopted to provide interfacial stability and structural uniformity of the nanofibrous layer, respectively. High-values of filtration characteristics (flux, permeability and anti-fouling) along with significant breakthrough volumes for solutions of Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions in dynamic adsorption studies suggest that the innovative structural characteristics of the improved ENCMs are capable of developing as a highly efficient filtration. (C) 2015 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.