One-Step Fabrication of Novel Polyethersulfone-Based Composite Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes for Food Industry Wastewater Treatment
Md. Nahid Pervez,
Md Eman Talukder,
Monira Rahman Mishu,
Antonio Buonerba,
Pasquale Del Gaudio,
George K Stylios,
Shadi W. Hasan,
Yaping Zhao,
Yingjie Cai,
Alberto Figoli,
Tiziano Zarra,
Vincenzo Belgiorno,
Hongchen Song,
Vincenzo Naddeo
Affiliations
Md. Nahid Pervez
Sanitary Environmental Engineering Division (SEED), Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Md Eman Talukder
Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
Monira Rahman Mishu
Faculty of Nutrition and Food Science, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Patuakhali 8602, Bangladesh
Antonio Buonerba
Sanitary Environmental Engineering Division (SEED), Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Pasquale Del Gaudio
Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
George K Stylios
Research Institute for Flexible Materials, School of Textiles and Design, Heriot-Watt University, Galashiels TD1 3HF, UK
Shadi W. Hasan
Department of Chemical Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 127788, United Arab Emirates
Yaping Zhao
Institute of Eco-Chongming, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
Yingjie Cai
Hubei Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Clean Production and High Value Utilization of Bio-Based Textile Materials, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan 430200, China
Alberto Figoli
Institute on Membrane Technology (CNR-ITM), Via P. Bucci 17/c, 87036 Rende, Italy
Tiziano Zarra
Sanitary Environmental Engineering Division (SEED), Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Vincenzo Belgiorno
Sanitary Environmental Engineering Division (SEED), Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Hongchen Song
Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
Vincenzo Naddeo
Sanitary Environmental Engineering Division (SEED), Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Using an environmentally friendly approach for eliminating methylene blue from an aqueous solution, the authors developed a unique electrospun nanofiber membrane made of a combination of polyethersulfone and hydroxypropyl cellulose (PES/HPC). SEM results confirmed the formation of a uniformly sized nanofiber membrane with an ultrathin diameter of 168.5 nm (for PES/HPC) and 261.5 nm (for pristine PES), which can be correlated by observing the absorption peaks in FTIR spectra and their amorphous/crystalline phases in the XRD pattern. Additionally, TGA analysis indicated that the addition of HPC plays a role in modulating their thermal stability. Moreover, the blended nanofiber membrane exhibited better mechanical strength and good hydrophilicity (measured by the contact angle). The highest adsorption capacity was achieved at a neutral pH under room temperature (259.74 mg/g), and the pseudo-second-order model was found to be accurate. In accordance with the Langmuir fitted model and MB adsorption data, it was revealed that the adsorption process occurred in a monolayer form on the membrane surface. The adsorption capacity of the MB was affected by the presence of various concentrations of NaCl (0.1–0.5 M). The satisfactory reusability of the PES/HPC nanofiber membrane was revealed for up to five cycles. According to the mechanism given for the adsorption process, the electrostatic attraction was shown to be the most dominant in increasing the adsorption capacity. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that this unique membrane may be used for wastewater treatment operations with high efficiency and performance.
