Highly permeable nanofibrous membranes integrated with porous substrates and barrier layers have been fabricated for energy efficient water purification. In specific, electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds supported by non-woven mats were employed as the substrate of the membrane, in which the high porosity of the nanofibrous format contributes toward overall high permeability to the membrane. The top barrier layer was created by ultra-fine nanofibers (e.g., cellulose nanofibers), nanosheets (e.g., graphene oxide) or nanocomposites, where nano-scale pores of the barrier layer could be fined tuned by proper assembly of material nanostructures. This membrane system, having thin-film nanofibrous composite (TFNC) format, offers the advantage of higher flux, while maintaining the same rejection ratio, over existing commercially available membranes for ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and pervaporation (for biofuel dehydration) applications.

Recent advances in porous nanofibrous membranes for water purification

248th National Meeting (2014)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.