Chemical Vapor Deposition Based Superelastic and Superhydrophoboic Thermoplastic Polymeric Nanofibrous Aerogels for Water Purification

Abstract

Developing high-performance, low-cost and large-scale absorbent materials is crucial for the treatment of water pollution caused by pollutants leakage and emission. Herein, superelastic and superhydrophobic thermoplastic polymeric nano brous aerogels (NFAs) were created for removal pollutants from water by using a facile and effective method. Poly(vinyl alcohol-co-ethylene) (EVOH) nano bers fabricated by mass-production techniques were used to construct three-dimensional NFAs through combing freezedrying process and cross-linking treatment. The optimal parameters for creating EVOH NFAs with good formability and resilience, including composition and ratio of dispersion, dosage of cross-linking agent were obtained through experiments. EVOH nano bers bonded with each other by glutaraldehyde under acidic conditions to from brous network structure in EVOH NFAs. The silane-coated EVOH NFAs were prepared through further modi cation with vapor-phase methyltrichlorosilane. The deposition of siloxane improved mechanical strength and decreased plastic deformation after 500 cyclic compressions. An asperate brous and granular siloxane coating was deposited on the surface of EVOH NFAs. The surface water contact angle increased from 104.4 ± 4.0° to 152.7 ± 1.9°, wettability of NFAs transitioned to being superhydrophobic. Silane-coated EVOH NFAs exhibited superior absorption capacity (40-92 g/g) for a variety of organic pollutants.The organic pollutants would be collected and the sorbents could be reused after distillation or squeezing. A successful scale-up of such materials open up a new insight into design polymeric aerogels in low-cost and large-scale with substantial industrial water puri cation applications.

Preparation and Characterization of Electrospun EVOH/Ti3C2 Composite Fibers

“…To investigate the effect of the Ti 3 C 2 content on the structure of the electrospun EVOH composite fibers, the XRD patterns and FTIR spectra of the electrospun EVOH/Ti 3 C 2 fibrous membranes were analyzed, as shown in Figure 3. A typical XRD pattern of the pristine electrospun EVOH fibrous membrane given by Figure 3a displays a crystal peak at a 2θ of about 16.2 • , which has been reported in previous literature [21]. With the increase in the Ti 3 C 2 concentration, the intensity and shape of the diffraction peak appearing at 2θ = 16.2 • have no obvious change, indicating that the presence of Ti 3 C 2 does not affect the crystal structure of the electrospun EVOH fibrous membrane.…”

“…The as-prepared DMDMH functionalized EVOH nanofibers membranes provided rechargeable chlorination capacity, high inactivation efficacy against bacteria, high filtration efficiency under low air resistance, and robust mechanical properties. Lu et al [ 21 ] designed the superelastic and superhydrophobic thermoplastic polymeric nanofibrous aerogels (NFAs) for the removal of pollutants from water. Silane-coated EVOH NFAs exhibited a superior absorption capacity (40–92 g/g) for a variety of organic pollutants, which could be used in substantial industrial water purification applications.…”

Recent advances of textile sorbents for oil spills cleanup: A review

“…Different methods have been used for generating superhydrophobic surfaces including spray-coating, 109 electro-assisted chemical deposition, 110 dip-coating, 111 sol-gel, 112 chemical vapor deposition, 113 polymer grafting, 114 and chemical etching. 115…”

“…104 It is worth mentioning that woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, and nonwoven fabrics with superhydrophobic surfaces were produced successfully. [105][106][107][108] Different methods have been used for generating superhydrophobic surfaces including spray-coating, 109 electro-assisted chemical deposition, 110 dip-coating, 111 sol-gel, 112 chemical vapor deposition, 113 polymer grafting, 114 and chemical etching. 115 Fabrication methods of textile sorbents for oil spill cleanup Different techniques have been used to change the wettability of textile sorbents toward superoleophilic and superhydrophobic.…”

Fabrication of EVOH/PANI Composite Nanofibrous Aerogels for the Removal of Dyes and Heavy Metal Ions

“…With rapid industrialization, the discharge of industrial wastewater and domestic sewage has become a serious threat to human health and the environment, especially with the presence of dyes and heavy metal ions [ 1 ]. Several strategies have been developed to remove these pollutants from water, such as biodegradation, filtration, chemical precipitation and adsorption [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Among those methods, adsorption has been applied widely due to its good universality and high efficiency [ 5 , 6 ].…”