Hydrophobic nano-bamboo fiber-reinforced acrylonitrile butadiene styrene electrospun membrane for the filtration of crude biodiesel

Abstract

Due to the high solubility rate of glycerol in water, gallons of water are used for the purification of raw biodiesel. Hence, washing of biodiesel is a major challenge for its large-scale production. The present work reports the fabrication of a novel superoleophilic and hydrophobic nanofibrous membrane based on bamboo fiber and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), by electrospinning for the purification of biodiesel. The morphology of the membrane was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). The addition of bamboo fiber increases the surface roughness of the electrospun fiber, thus modifying the surface wetting behavior. The wettability of the membrane was measured by goniometer and the water contact angle was found to be increased from 119° to 143° with the addition of 2 wt.% of the bamboo fiber in pure ABS solution. The superior hydrophobic and superoleophilic properties enable the membrane to separate the free glycerol and unreacted methanol from crude biodiesel. The purity level of the filtered biodiesel was checked using the light scattering method and found to meet the ASTM standard. The gravity-driven setup with bamboo fiber reinforced ABS membrane is a cost-effective method, eliminating water washing procedure for the biodiesel purification.