Abstract
Nowadays, hundreds of consumer products contain metal and metal oxide nanoparticles (NP); this increases the probability of such particles to be released to natural waters generating a potential risk to human health and the environment. This paper presents the development of efficient carboneous nanofibrous membranes for NP filtration from aqueous solutions. Free‐standing carbon nanofiber (CNF) mats with different fiber size distribution ranging from 126 to 554 nm in diameter were produced by electrospinning of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor solution followed by thermal treatment. Moreover, tetraethoxyorthosilicate was added to provide flexibility and increase the specific surface area of the CNF. The resulting membranes are bendable and mechanically strong enough to withstand filtration under pressure or vacuum. The experimental results of filtration revealed that the fabricated membranes could efficiently reject nanoparticles of different types (Au, Ag, and TiO2) and size (from 10 to 100 nm in diameter) from aqueous solutions. It is worth mentioning that the removal of Ag NP with diameters as small as 10 nm was close to 100% with an extremely high flux of 47620 L m−2 h−1 bar−1.
Highlights
Nanotechnology is having a large impact in manufactured products in most major industry sectors, including electronic, cosmetic, automotive, and healthcare sectors
This paper presents the development of efficient carboneous nanofibrous membranes for NP filtration from aqueous solutions
Free-standing carbon nanofiber (CNF) mats with different fiber size distribution ranging from 126 to 554 nm in diameter were produced by electrospinning of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor solution followed by thermal treatment
Summary
Nanotechnology is having a large impact in manufactured products in most major industry sectors, including electronic, cosmetic, automotive, and healthcare sectors. According to a recent survey [1] over 1,300 nanotechnology-related products are currently on the market. Free nanoparticles (NP) are likely to enter the aquatic environment in all stages of nanomaterials life cycle (production, processing, use, recycling, and disposal). These particles can persist in natural bodies and are not fully removed by drinking water treatment systems, thereby posing a potential public health concern [2, 3]. The development of new barrier materials is needed to reduce the potential risks related to human and environmental exposure to nanomaterials [4]. Due to their very large specific area, very small pore size, and high porosity, have been shown to improve the efficiency of conventional materials used for the filtration and separation of particulate materials [5, 6]
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