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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Chem.
Sec. Electrochemistry
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fchem.2024.1472640
This article is part of the Research Topic Energy and Environmental Sustainability through Electrochemistry in South Korea View all articles

Mechanically Durable Tri-composite Polyamide 6/ Hematite Nanoparticle/ Tetra-n-butylammonium Bromide (PA6/α-Fe 2 O 3 /TBAB) Nanofiber based Membranes for Phosphate Remediation

Provisionally accepted
Yun Y. Choir Yun Y. Choir 1Dung T. To Dung T. To 1Sewoon Kim Sewoon Kim 2David Cwiertny David Cwiertny 2Nosang V. Myung Nosang V. Myung 1*
  • 1 University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, United States
  • 2 The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Essential properties for a Point of Use (POU) water filter include maintaining high removal capacity and rate, with excellent mechanical properties to withstand pressure drop. Herein, mechanically robust tri-composite polyamide 6/iron oxide nanoparticles/tetra-n-butylammonium bromide (PA6/α-Fe2O3/TBAB) nanofiber composite membranes were electrospun for phosphate (P) remediation, where the diameter and composition were tuned by controlling solution compositions and electrospinning conditions. Tri-composite composition and morphology affect phosphate uptake where the adsorption capacity followed Langmuir isotherm whereas the adsorption kinetics followed pseudo second order behavior. Mechanical properties (i.e., Young's Modulus (E) and toughness) were significantly influenced by the composition and morphology of the tri-composite, as well. Although additional TBAB and iron oxide decreased toughness, there are optimum composition ranges which resulted in maximum Young's Modulus. Of the synthesized nanofiber membranes, PA6/α-Fe2O3/TBAB nanofibers with 17% α-Fe2O3 and 2% TBAB showed excellent phosphate uptake capacity (i.e., 8.9 mg/g (52 mg of P/g of α-Fe2O3)) while it is bendable, stretchable, and able to plastically deform without fracturing (i.e., Young's modulus of 2.06× 10 8 Pa and Toughness of 1.35 × 10 6 J m -3 ). With concerns over the impact of P on water resources and the long-term availability of limited P resources, this tri-composite membrane is well suited for applications in both wastewater treatment and resource recovery.

    Keywords: Electrospinning, Nylon, iron oxide, Flexible composite nanofibers, Phosphate removal

    Received: 29 Jul 2024; Accepted: 26 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Choir, To, Kim, Cwiertny and Myung. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Nosang V. Myung, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, 46556, Indiana, United States

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