Journal article
Surfactant-assisted fabrication of porous polymeric nanofibers with surface-enriched iron oxide nanoparticles: composite filtration materials for removal of metal cations
Environmental science. Nano, Vol.5(3), pp.669-681
2018
DOI: 10.1039/C7EN00720E
Abstract
We demonstrate a mechanically robust and highly reactive water filter for treatment of cationic heavy metals (lead, copper, cadmium), using a surface-segregating surfactant to fabricate polymer nanofiber composites with embedded, surface-active iron oxide nanoparticles. The single-pot synthesis integrates commercially-available ∼3 nm amorphous iron oxide nanoparticles, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and polyacrylonitrile (PAN). Characterization suggested the benefits of SDS inclusion are two-fold. During electrospinning, SDS surface-segregation facilitates nanoparticle transport to nanofiber surfaces, thereby enhancing iron oxide surface concentration in the composite. Subsequent rinsing in water leads to SDS release from the polymer; thus, SDS also serves as a removable porogen that enhances composite pore volume. Metal removal performance was evaluatedviakinetic, isotherm, and pH-edge sorption experiments, with benchmarks to nanofiber supports (unmodified PAN, SDS-modified PAN) and freely dispersed nanoparticles. SDS–iron oxide nanoparticle synergies enhanced the structural integrity and metal uptake capacity of composites. Notably, for the optimal precursor formulation (7 wt% PAN, 2 wt% iron oxide nanoparticles, 1 wt% SDS), embedded nanoparticles exhibited reactivity comparable to that of nanoparticle suspensions. Treatment of lead at drinking water-relevant concentrations (μg L−1) in a flow-through filtration system revealed that a relatively small amount of material can provide an individual's annual drinking water requirement (∼5 g composite per L per day for tap water containing ∼300 μg L−1Pb), and effective regeneration can be achieved with small volumes of dilute acid (∼0.6 L of 0.1 N HNO3per g composite). This work demonstrates the potential of surface-segregating surfactants and porogen-assisted fabrication of electrospun composites to allow practical deployment of nanoparticles within stand-alone, reactive filtration devices.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Surfactant-assisted fabrication of porous polymeric nanofibers with surface-enriched iron oxide nanoparticles: composite filtration materials for removal of metal cations
- Creators
- Katherine T Peter - University of IowaNosang V Myung - University of California, RiversideDavid M Cwiertny - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Environmental science. Nano, Vol.5(3), pp.669-681
- DOI
- 10.1039/C7EN00720E
- ISSN
- 2051-8153
- eISSN
- 2051-8161
- Grant note
- DOI: 10.13039/501100001589, name: Environmental Protection Agency, award: R835177; DOI: 10.13039/100000001, name: NSF, award: 1048957
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2018
- Academic Unit
- Chemistry; Civil and Environmental Engineering; Chemical and Biochemical Engineering; Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination; Public Policy Center (Archive)
- Record Identifier
- 9984197347202771
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