Electrospun preparation of polylactic acid nanoporous fiber membranes via thermal-nonsolvent induced phase separation

• Fiber membranes with nanoporous structures were obtained via thermal-nonsolvent induced phase separation.
• PLLA nanoporous fiber membranes were prepared by electrospinning a single solvent system.
• A water bath was used to obtain the PLLA nanoporous fiber membranes regardless of humidity.
• This kind of PLLA nanoporous fiber membranes possessed high specific surface area and water flux.
• The nanopore structures endow membranes excellent performance in oil adsorption and organic dye filtration.

A novel polylactic acid (PLLA) fiber membrane with nanoporous structures has been successfully developed via thermal-nonsolvent induced a phase separation technique by electrospinning a single solvent system of PLLA/dichloromethane. A water bath receiver was necessary for preparing the nanoporous fiber membranes in this paper. The results showed that the nanoporous fiber membranes could be obtained within a wide range of humidity. Compared with non-porous PLLA fiber membranes, the nanoporous fiber membranes displayed significantly improved specific surface area (improved about 20%) and rejection ratio (about 3 times) toward methylene blue. Besides, the PLLA nanoporous fiber membranes showed a water flux up to 4836.6 L m−2 h−1, increased by 25% than that of the non-porous fiber membranes. In addition, the oil adsorption capacity of the PLLA nanoporous fiber membranes could reach 26.8 g g−1. The new developed PLLA nanoporous fiber membranes via thermal-nonsolvent induced phase separation technique would demonstrate an impressive prospect for oil adsorption and organic dye filtration.

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