Preparation, characterization and antifouling properties of polyacrylonitrile/polyurethane blend membranes for water purification

Abstract

Casting of flat sheet polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/polyurethane (PU) blend membranes was reported for the first time in this work. PU makes the membrane more porous. Ternary phase diagram indicates that the addition of PU increases the thermodynamic instability of the blend. The average pore size of the membrane increased from 11 nm to 18 nm for pure PAN and the PAN/PU blend membranes. The membranes were characterized in terms of permeability, porosity, molecular weight cut-off (MWCO), contact angle, mechanical strength, scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The AFM images indicated that the surface roughness of the membrane increased with an increase in the concentration of PU. Addition of PU also imparted hydrophilicity to the membranes. FTIR and DSC measurements confirm the polymer compatibility of the PAN/PU blend. The PAN/PU blend 70/30 membrane exhibited the maximum antifouling characteristics with a 99% flux recovery ratio associated with the complete removal of turbidities and organic matter.

Preparation of electrospun polyurethane/hydrophobic silica gel nanofibrous membranes for waterproof and breathable application

“…The typical absorption feature for carbamate group was found at 3330 cm −1 . Peaks at 1724 and 1220 cm −1 were assigned to CO and CO stretching vibration . The absorption at 1096 cm −1 was attributed to the SiOSi vibrational peak and the OSiO gave the absorption peak at 774 cm −1 .…”

Poly(vinylidene fluoride)–polyacrylonitrile blend flat‐sheet membranes reinforced with carbon nanotubes for wastewater treatment

“…Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) is also a common microfiltration and ultrafiltration membrane material by virtue of its chemical stability, thermal stability, low cost, and tolerance to organic solvents . The molecular structures of PVDF and PAN are shown in Figure .…”

Polyacrylonitrile–poly(1‐vinyl pyrrolidone‐co‐vinyl acetate) blend based gel polymer electrolytes incorporated with sodium iodide salt for dye‐sensitized solar cell applications

“…Some peaks were slightly shifted; this was due to the complex formation on the backbone of the host polymer with the ions (Na + and I − ) of NaI salt, as illustrated in Figure . The complex formation was also evidenced in the reported literature …”

“…The complex formation was also evidenced in the reported literature. [45][46][47][48] XRD Figure 8(a,b) shows the XRD spectra of the pure PAN, P(VP-co-Vac), NaI, and developed GPE samples. The XRD pattern of P(VPco-VAc) showed two broad characteristic peaks at 2θs of 11.9 and 21.5 ; these represented to the overlapping of the PVP and PVAc regions, respectively.…”