Electrospun polymer of intrinsic microporosity fibers and their use in the adsorption of contaminants from a nonaqueous system

Abstract

The smooth and uniform polymer of intrinsic microporosity (PIM‐1) fibers, which have high adsorption capacities toward organic contaminants from nonaqueous systems, were successfully obtained by electrospinning. According to the N2 adsorption–desorption analysis, the surface area of the PIM‐1 fibers was higher than that of the PIM‐1 powder. The higher surface area of the fibers did not come from the interfiber pores but from intrafiber pores formed by the fast evaporation of the solvent in the electrospinning process. The PIM‐1 fibers had more mesopores than the PIM‐1 films. As a result, the adsorption rates of the dyes on the fibers were much higher than those on the dense films. We found that the adsorption data fitted perfectly with the pseudo‐second‐order model and intraparticle diffusion model. The adsorption mechanism between the dyes and PIM‐1 was π–π interaction. Therefore, the dye could be desorbed from PIM‐1 with toluene; this was a better π‐electron‐rich donor than the dye. In summary, we believe that the use of PIM‐1 fibers for organic solvent recovery is a green, sustainable, and efficient method, and they have a great potential for industrial applications. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 43475.

Systematic hydrolysis of PIM-1 and electrospinning of hydrolyzed PIM-1 ultrafine fibers for an efficient removal of dye from water

“…Zhang et al [33] was prepared PIM-1/ POSS fibrous membranes and they have investigated the ability of the membranes in oil-water separation. In addition, the adsorption of dyes from non-aqueous media by electrospun PIM-1 was reported by the same group [32]. However, the hydrophobicity limits the use of PIM-1 in aqueous solutions as it inhibits its interaction ability with waste molecules in water.…”

“…Electrospun fibers are employed in various applications such as filtration, biomedical, tissue engineering, nanocatalysis, sensors and food, etc. [24][25][26][27][28][29][30] On the other hand, electrospinning of PIM-1 is a relatively new concept which was investigated very recently [31][32][33][34]. Bonso et al [31] was successfully prepared electrospun PIM-1 fiber in tetrachloroethane solution which was then carbonized and used as an electrode for supercapacitors.…”

Removal of aniline from air and water by polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIM-1) electrospun ultrafine fibers

“…Previous studies have reported the preparation of bead-free electrospun PIM-1 fibers by using 7 to 10% polymer in tetrachloroethane solutions with 127 and 292 kDa molecular weight of PIM-1 polymer [40][41][42]. In the present study, we have employed the PIM-1 with a molecular weight of 189 kDa (M w ) with a narrow PDI (1.78).…”

“…The fiber form can also be produced by electrospinning method which is fairly simple and versatile way to produce three-dimensional porous adsorbents for various applications [33][34][35][36][37][38][39]. Electrospinning of PIM-1 is a fairly new concept that was investigated recently [40][41][42][43]. Bonso et al [40] was first used tetrachloroethane solution to produce electrospun PIM-1 fiber mat.…”

“…Then, the preparation of PIM/POSS fibrous membranes were developed and their oil/ water separation performances have been studied by Zhang et al [42]. The same group also have investigated the adsorption of dyes from non-aqueous media by electrospun PIM-1 [41]. Lasseuguette et al [43] employed different solvent system for the fabrication of electrospun PIM-1 by using tetrahydrofuran/dimethylformamide mixture.…”