Preparation of Cation Exchanger Using Electrospun Polystyrene Nanofiber

Abstract

We studied a new ion exchanger for high ion exchange capacity (IEC) and rapid ion exchange. Polystyrene nanofiber ion exchangers (PSNIEs) were prepared by electrospinning from solutions of dissolved polystyrene followed by sulfonation. Coating and sulfonation were used to modify the glass fiber surface with polystyrene to produce cation exchanger fiber (CEF). We present new experimental results on the performance of PSNIE and CEF related to parameters of IEC, water uptake, and surface morpoholgy. IEC and water uptake of PSNIE depend on sulfonation time. IEC reached 3.74 mmol/g at relatively high water uptake of 0.6 to 0.77g H2O/g-dry-PNIE. IEC and water uptake of CEF reached 3.61mmol/g-CEF and 0.25g H2O/g-dry-CEF.