A novel high flux poly(trimethylene terephthalate) nanofiber membrane for microfiltration media

•A new method was invented to prepare PTT nanofiber.•We fabricate a novel high performance nanofiber membrane for microfiltraion.•Heat-treatment could enhance the performances of PTT nanofiber membrane.•The rejection rate of nanofiber membranes to TiO2 suspension was above 99.6%.•Adsorption and pore blocking were main reasons causing the membrane fouling.

A novel high flux poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) nanofiber membrane for microfiltration media was prepared and characterized in this study. The PTT nanofibers for the membrane preparation were fabricated based on a high throughput, cost effective and environmental friendly method developed by us. The PTT nanofiber membranes were then prepared by a wet-laid process. To enhance the mechanical properties of fabricated PTT nanofiber membrane, two strategies were employed. The structures of PTT nanofiber membrane were compacted by making PTT nanofibers shrink together under heat. The other one is to facilitate the formation of locally physical cross-linking points by blending PP nanofibers having lower softening points into PTT nanofiber membranes and the following heat-treatment. The properties of the original nanofiber membrane and two modified nanofiber membranes, including morphology, apparent density, porosity, contact-angle, pore size distribution, water flux and filtration efficiency, were thoroughly investigated. The rejection rates of the prepared nanofiber membranes to TiO2 suspensions with the average diameter of 100 nm were above 99.6%. The results indicated that the PTT nanofiber membranes prepared by this novel method have great potential for the application of high flux microfiltration media.

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