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AL-Rajabi MM, Almanassra IW, Khalil AKA, Atieh MA, Laoui T, Khalil KA. Facile Coaxial Electrospinning Synthesis of Polyacrylonitrile/Cellulose Acetate Nanofiber Membrane for Oil-Water Separations. Polymers (Basel) 2023; 15:4594. [PMID: 38232019 PMCID: PMC10708555 DOI: 10.3390/polym15234594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2023] [Revised: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Oil-contaminated water and industrial oily wastewater discharges have adversely affected aquatic ecosystems and human safety. Membrane separation technology offers a promising solution for effective oil-water separation. Thus, a membrane with high surface area, hydrophilic-oleophobic properties, and stability is a promising candidate. Electrospinning, a straightforward and efficient process, produces highly porous polymer-based membranes with a vast surface area and stability. The main objective of this study is to produce hydrophilic-oleophobic polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and cellulose acetate (CA) nanofibers using core-shell electrospinning. Incorporating CA into the shell of the nanofibers enhances the wettability. The core PAN polymer improves the electrospinning process and contributes to the hydrophilicity-oleophobicity of the produced nanofibers. The PAN/CA nanofibers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and surface-wetting behavior. The resulting PAN/cellulose nanofibers exhibited significantly improved surface-wetting properties, demonstrating super-hydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity, making them a promising choice for oil-water separation. Various oils, including gasoline, diesel, toluene, xylene, and benzene, were employed in the preparation of oil-water mixture solutions. The utilization of PAN/CA nanofibers as a substrate proved to be highly efficient, confirming exceptional separation efficiency, remarkable stability, and prolonged durability. The current work introduces an innovative single-step fabrication method of composite nanofibers, specially designed for efficient oil-water separation. This technology exhibits significant promise for deployment in challenging situations, offering excellent reusability and a remarkable separation efficiency of nearly 99.9%.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maha Mohammad AL-Rajabi
- Research Institute of Sciences and Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates; (M.M.A.-R.); (I.W.A.); (A.K.A.K.); (M.A.A.); (T.L.)
- Faculty of Chemical Engineering & Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, UniMAP, Arau 02600, Perlis, Malaysia
- Centre of Excellence for Biomass Utilization, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, UniMAP, Arau 02600, Perlis, Malaysia
| | - Ismail W. Almanassra
- Research Institute of Sciences and Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates; (M.M.A.-R.); (I.W.A.); (A.K.A.K.); (M.A.A.); (T.L.)
| | - Abdelrahman K. A. Khalil
- Research Institute of Sciences and Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates; (M.M.A.-R.); (I.W.A.); (A.K.A.K.); (M.A.A.); (T.L.)
| | - Muataz Ali Atieh
- Research Institute of Sciences and Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates; (M.M.A.-R.); (I.W.A.); (A.K.A.K.); (M.A.A.); (T.L.)
- Chemical and Water Desalination Engineering Program, College of Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates
| | - Tahar Laoui
- Research Institute of Sciences and Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates; (M.M.A.-R.); (I.W.A.); (A.K.A.K.); (M.A.A.); (T.L.)
- Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates
| | - Khalil Abdelrazek Khalil
- Research Institute of Sciences and Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates; (M.M.A.-R.); (I.W.A.); (A.K.A.K.); (M.A.A.); (T.L.)
- Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates
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Kawahara K, Matsuno H, Tanaka K. Aggregation States and Segmental Dynamics of Poly(methyl methacrylate) in Nanofiber Mats. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2023; 39:7192-7200. [PMID: 37171789 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c00698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Nanofiber mats composed of polymers, having a large surface-to-volume ratio and high porosity, have been widely applied in the environmental and biomedical fields but fundamental knowledge on the polymer chains in the mats seems to be limited. We here report the aggregation states and segmental dynamics of poly(methyl methacrylate)s (PMMAs) with different stereoregularities in electrospun nanofiber mats. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR/FTIR) spectroscopy revealed that, in the case of atactic PMMA (at-PMMA), the population of the trans-trans conformation of the main chain part, which allows carbonyl groups of the side group to interact affirmatively with each other, increased in the electrospun nanofiber mat. On the other hand, in the case of isotactic PMMA (it-PMMA), the skeletal conformation was unchanged even in the nanofiber mat. As a result of the aggregation states of PMMA chains, the glass-transition temperature (Tg) of the electrospun nanofiber mats increased and remained unchanged from the corresponding bulk value for at- and it-PMMA, respectively. These findings should be useful for designing materials and devices composed of electrospun nanofibers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keigo Kawahara
- Department of Applied Chemistry, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
| | - Hisao Matsuno
- Department of Applied Chemistry, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
- Centre for Polymer Interface and Molecular Adhesion Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
| | - Keiji Tanaka
- Department of Applied Chemistry, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
- Centre for Polymer Interface and Molecular Adhesion Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
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