Filtration efficiency and filter resistance of nylon-6 and nylon-6/chitosan nanofibrous membranes

Abstract

Pore size reduction of nanofibrous membranes and the removal efficiencies for submicron PS particles (410, 200, 90 and 50 nm) were investigated in this study. Blending chitosan with nylon-6 generated ultrafine fibers among typical nanofibers which could yield an electrospun membrane with smaller average pore size. It was found that high molecular weight chitosan could increase the filtration efficiency better than low molecular weight chitosan. The best membrane was obtained from solution of 30% wt/v nylon-6 and 0.06% wt/v chitosan. It had the average fiber size around 128 nm, average pore size around 110 nm and its thickness around 0.1 mm. While it could remove other larger particles completely, it gave the removal efficiency of 94% for 50-nm particles when it was used as a single-layer membrane and up to 97% as double-layer membranes with overall thickness of 0.17 mm. It was better than the commercial nylon membrane regarding its higher removal efficiency and smaller pore sizes so it has a potential to be used for sterilization of contaminated water.

Keywords

• Filtration
• Nanoparticles
• Nanofibers
• Electrospinning
• Nylon
• Chitosan