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Nanofibrous filter media of polyamide-6/chitosan were fabricated by electrospinning onto a satin fabric substrate and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and water contact angle (WCA). Anionic dye removal capability of the filter was investigated for Solophenyl Red 3BL and Polar Yellow GN, respectively, as acidic and direct dyes were investigated with respect to solution parameters (pH and initial dye concentration) and membrane parameters (electrospinning time and chitosan ratio) through filtration system. Experiments were designed using response surface methodology (RSM) based on five-level central composite design (CCD) with four parameters to maximize removal efficiency of the filter media. Moreover, the effect of parameters and their likely interactions on dye removal were investigated by mathematically developed models. The optimum values for solution pH, initial dye concentration, electrospinning time, and chitosan ratio were predicted to be 5, 50 mg/L, 4 hr, 30% and 5, 100 mg/L, 4 hr, 10%, respectively, for achieving 96% and 95% removal of Solophenyl Red 3BL and Polar Yellow GN. Evaluation of the estimation capability of applied models revealed that the models have a good agreement with experimental values. This study demonstrated that polyamide-6/chitosan nanofibrous membrane has an enormous applicable potential in dye removal from aqueous solutions.

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In this study, the authors present a promising structure of shape-stabilized phase change materials (PCMs) with remarkable thermal energy storage capacity as core/shell phase change nanofibers. In this regard, solutions of polyethylene glycol (PEG) (as an important category of PCMs) and cellulose acetate (CA) were used as core and shell solutions, respectively. Electrospinning with a coaxial spinneret was performed, and nanofibers with the mean diameter of 545 nm under the controlled condition were produced. The formation of the core/shell structure was verified by scanning electron microscopy, attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy analyses. Moreover, thermogravimetric analysis results not only revealed the thermal stability improvement of PCM but also confirmed the presence of the core/shell structure too. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis was also performed to measure the thermal energy storage capacity of the core/shell phase change nanofibers before and after a thermal cyclic test. A major finding in the present study is that the thermal energy storage capacity of core/shell nanofibers after the thermal cyclic test is significantly higher (41.23 J/g) than initial one (14.77 J/g). Ultimately, it can be summarized that the special core/shell configuration provides desirable thermal stability and durability concurrently along with high thermal energy storage capacity. C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Technol 2016, 35, 21534; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com.

In this study, fabrication, characterization, and adsorption properties of alginate (Alg)-based nanofibrous membrane were investigated for two categories of anionic (AR14) and cationic (BB41) dyes. Three optimization steps were performed to achieve the membrane enjoying desirable morphology, highest Alg content, and lowest possible nanofiber diameter. Consequently, Alg/poly(ethylene oxide) nanofibers with the 80:20 ratio and mean diameter of 93 nm were produced. A novel method was applied as spraying the cross-linking solution to diminish the solubility of the nanofibers in aqueous environments. The effect of solution pH, contact time, membrane dosage, and dye concentration on the adsorption performance was evaluated. The results showed that the produced membrane has an obvious pH dependency in which the maximum adsorption capacity at the solution pH of 1 and 9 were 93% and 71% for AR14 and BB41, respectively. The present work revealed that the Alg-based nanofibrous membranes have a great potential to remove both anionic and cationic dyes from aqueous solutions. C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Technol 2016, , 21569; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com.