Composite Water-Borne Polyurethane Nanofibrous Electrospun Membranes with Photocatalytic Properties

• DOI: 10.1021/acsapm.1c01029
• Publication Date: 2021-11-16T17:10:54Z
• Authors: Stefano Alberti; Andrea Dodero; Emanuela Sartori; Silvia Vicini; Maurizio Ferretti; Maila Castellano
• Keywords: 02 engineering and technology; 0210 nano-technology; electrospun nanofibers; photocatalytic properties; titanium dioxide-based composites; wastewater treatment; water-borne polyurethanes

Increasing water pollution and the lack of large-scale purification processes pose a great environmental burden. In the present work, water-borne polyurethane composite membranes containing TiO2 active particles are prepared via a single-step electrospinning procedure by using water as the unique solvent. The mats are then explored as photocatalytic platforms for wastewater treatment. Despite the fact that the amount of embedded TiO2 is found to influence the nanofiber dimension (i.e., 540-840 nm), the fabricated mats are generally characterized by self-standing nature, high porosity, marked thermal stability, and excellent mechanical resistance. TiO2 particles are proved to endow the composite membranes with photocatalytic features when irradiated with solar light, giving marked adsorption ability and abatement capacity. In addition, mat reusability is demonstrated over five cycles showing no activity loss. Due to their low cost, great efficiency, and high fabrication rate, the proposed composite mats represent a promising class of recyclable filtering materials.