title: Study of hydrophilic electrospun nanofiber membranes for filtration of micro and nanosize suspended particles.
abstract: Polymeric nanofiber membranes of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) blended with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) were fabricated using an electrospinning process at different conditions and used for the filtration of three different liquid suspensions to determine the efficiency of the filter membranes. The three liquid suspensions included lake water, abrasive particles from a water jet cutter, and suspended magnetite nanoparticles. The major goal of this research work was to create highly hydrophilic nanofiber membranes and utilize them to filter the suspended liquids at an optimal level of purification (i.e., drinkable level). In order to overcome the fouling/biofouling/blocking problems of the membrane, a coagulation process, which enhances the membrane's efficiency for removing colloidal particles, was used as a pre-treatment process. Two chemical agents, Tanfloc (organic) and Alum (inorganic), were chosen for the flocculation/coagulation process. The removal efficiency of the suspended particles in the liquids was measured in terms of turbidity, pH, and total dissolved solids (TDS). It was observed that the coagulation/filtration experiments were more efficient at removing turbidity, compared to the direct filtration process performed without any coagulation and filter media.
authors: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount, Wichita, KS 67260, USA. ramazan.asmatulu@wichita.edu.
authors: Ramazan
authors: R
authors: Asmatulu
authors: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount, Wichita, KS 67260, USA. harish00309@gmail.com.
authors: Harish
authors: H
authors: Muppalla
authors: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount, Wichita, KS 67260, USA. z.veisi@gmail.com.
authors: Zeinab
authors: Z
authors: Veisi
authors: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount, Wichita, KS 67260, USA. waseem_beacon@yahoo.com.
authors: Waseem S
authors: WS
authors: Khan
authors: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount, Wichita, KS 67260, USA. abu.asaduzzaman@wichita.edu.
authors: Abu
authors: A
authors: Asaduzzaman
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. nurxat@mit.edu.
authors: Nurxat
authors: N
authors: Nuraje