Production of nanofiber composite membrane from chitosan added polyamide-6/cellulose acetate (PA6/CA) and investigation of membrane permeability

Abstract

PA6 nanofiber composite membranes are expected to be limited in their application area in the future, as they will be affected by environmental and sustainability policy sanctions due to their weak hydrophilic effects under high pressure and being hydrocarbon-based raw material. In this study, bio-based chitosan-doped PA6/CA composite nanofiber membrane surfaces were prepared using the electrospinning method. Nanofiber-structured composite membrane surfaces were prepared at different mixing ratios to improve the hydrophilic and permeability properties of the composite membranes, depending on the chitosan doping ratio. Membranes were characterized by SEM images, pore size, pore ratio, and contact angle measurements. Tensile and bursting strength and air permeability tests were performed to measure the mechanical properties of the membranes. The study was carried out using two types of water, pure and salt water, to determine the permeability and ion retention properties of the prepared membranes. The results showed that chitosan-doped PA6/CA composite structured nanofiber membrane surfaces played an important role in increasing the hydrophilicity. It was determined that depending on the chitosan additive ratio, the pore size decreased and accordingly the air permeability decreased. It was observed that there was a decrease in pure water permeability in parallel with the reduction in tensile and bursting strength. However, an increase in ion retention was observed in the study performed with salt water. All these results show that chitosan-doped PA6/CA nanofiber composite membranes can be very promising for microfiltration applications with their hydrophilic, mechanical, and permeability values.

Keywords

• Elektrospinning
• Nanofiber
• Chitosan
• Cellulose acetate
• Polyamide 6
• Membranes.

Kitosan katkılı poliamid-6/selüloz asetat (PA6/CA) nanofiber kompozit membran üretimi ve membran geçirgenliklerinin araştırılması

Öz

PA6 nanolif kompozit membranların yüksek basınç altında zayıf hidrofilik etkileri ve hidrokarbon bazlı hammadde olmaları nedeniyle çevre ve sürdürülebilirlik politikası yaptırımlarından etkilenecekleri için gelecekte uygulama alanlarının sınırlı olması beklenmektedir. Bu çalışmada, biyo bazlı kitosan katkılı PA6/CA kompozit nanofiber membran yüzeyleri, elektrospinning yöntemi kullanılarak hazırlandı. Kompozit membranların hidrofilik ve geçirgenlik özelliklerini geliştirmek amacıyla kitosan katkı oranına bağlı olarak farklı karışım oranlarında nanofiber yapılı kompozit membran yüzeyleri hazırlandı. Membranlar SEM görüntüleri, gözenek boyutu, gözenek oranı ve temas açısı ölçümleriyle karakterize edildi. Membranların mekanik özelliklerini ölçmek için çekme ve patlama mukavemeti ve hava geçirgenlik testleri yapılmıştır. Çalışma, hazırlanan membranların geçirgenlik ve iyon tutma özelliklerinin belirlenmesi amacıyla saf ve tuzlu su olmak üzere iki tip su kullanılarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Sonuçlar, kitosan katkılı PA6/CA kompozit yapılı nanofiber membran yüzeylerinin hidrofilikliğin arttırılmasında önemli bir rol oynadığını gösterdi. Kitosan katkı oranına bağlı olarak gözenek boyutunun azaldığı ve buna bağlı olarak hava geçirgenliğinin azaldığı belirlenmiştir. Çekme ve patlama mukavemetindeki azalmaya paralel olarak saf su geçirgenliğinde de azalma olduğu gözlenmiştir. Ancak tuzlu su ile yapılan çalışmada iyon tutulumunda artış gözlenmiştir. Tüm bu sonuçlar kitosan katkılı PA6/CA nanofiber kompozit membranların hidrofilik, mekanik ve geçirgenlik değerleriyle mikrofiltrasyon uygulamaları için oldukça umut verici olabileceğini göstermektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Elektrospinning
• Nanolif
• Kitosan
• Selüloz Asetat
• Poliamid 6
• Membran

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