A novel PU/PVA-co-PE composite nanofibermembrane for water filtration

Abstract: Filter membranes with highefficiency and low energy consumption are gaining more attention owing to theincrease in water pollution. To enhance the filtration performance, a novelspindle polyurethane (PU) / poly(vinyl alcoholco-ethylene) (PVA-co-PE)composite nanofiber membrane was prepared. It is the first time that thespindle composite nanofibers and nanofiber membranes are prepared based on thePU/PVA-co-PE/CAB (cellulose acetate butyrate) immiscible polymer blends. Theeffects of PU concentration on the morphology, size distribution, andhydrophilicity of PU/PVA-co-PE nanofiber membranes were analyzed. The purePVA-co-PE nanofiber membrane and PU/PVA-co-PE composite nanofiber membranes wereused to filtrate the nanoparticle suspension with scarlet pigments (50–300nm). Due to the smaller pore size, looser structure, and largerporosity, the rejection rate and flux of spindle PU/PVA-co-PE compositenanofiber membranes are both higher than that of pure PVA-co-PE nanofibermembrane. When the basic weight of nanofiber layer is 6g/m2, the rejection rate of all the PU/PVA-co-PE membranes are above99%. This study provided a novel, facile, and high-throughput method to preparespindle nanofiber membranes and indicated the advantage of spindle PU/PVA-co-PEcomposite nanofiber membranes in the application of water filtration.

Li Mufang, et al. Anovel PU/PVA-co-PE composite nanofiber membrane for water filtration. Journal of Industrial Textiles, 2019,49, 431-446.