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Superflexible/superhydrophilic PVDF-HFP/CuO-nanosheet nanofibrous membrane for efficient microfiltration

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Abstract

Membrane fouling and poor flexibility plague membrane technology for further application in water treatment. Herein, we introduce a hierarchical superflexible/superhydrophilic poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-hexa-fluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP)/CuO-nanosheet membrane, which is capable of separating Polystyrene (PS) microspheres (diameter large than 300 nm) with high separation efficiency (higher than 99.89%). Moreover, the resulting membrane maintained 98.10% water flux after 60 min, suggesting excellent anti-fouling property. The anti-fouling property is contributed by the membrane superhydrophilicity, a result of the extreme roughness of CuO-nanosheet and the hydrophilic nature of CuO. Furthermore, the membrane processes outstanding flexibility due to the PVDF-HFP nanofiber backbone, which widens its applicability in practical industrial employment. Therefore, such a membrane with anti-fouling, high separation efficiency, super flexibility, as well as acceptable water flux (2360 ± 50 Lm− 2h− 1, 0.3 bar) and good mechanical properties (stress at break 6.65 MPa and elongation at break 67.35%), makes the membrane a good candidate for practical water microfiltration.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the support by Pre-research Project of China National Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Polytechnic University (2019yyzr06), Key Project of Natural Science Research in Colleges and Universities of Anhui Province (KJ2015A022), and Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation (1908085QE223).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Textile Fabrics, School of Textile and Garment, Anhui Polytechnic University, Beijing Mid-Road, Wuhu, 241000, People’s Republic of China

    Zhi Liu, Rui Cao, Anfang Wei & Jianghui Zhao

  2. National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Soochow University, 199 Ren-Ai Road, Suzhou, 215123, People’s Republic of China

    Jihuan He

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  1. Zhi Liu
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  2. Rui Cao
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  3. Anfang Wei
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Correspondence to Zhi Liu or Jianghui Zhao.

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Liu, Z., Cao, R., Wei, A. et al. Superflexible/superhydrophilic PVDF-HFP/CuO-nanosheet nanofibrous membrane for efficient microfiltration. Appl Nanosci 9, 1991–2000 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-019-01014-4

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