Facile synthesis of poly(vinyl alcohol) sub-micron fibers incorporating superfine diatomite powder with electrospinning for adsorption property

Publication date: Available online 16 March 2019Source: Materials Chemistry and PhysicsAuthor(s): Huimin Zhu, Wenyuan Gao, Shuang Yan, Meihong Niu, Guishan Liu, Hongshun HaoAbstractNovel composite sub-micron fibers materials, consisting of superfine powdered diatomite (SPD) and fibrous poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), were fabricated by electrospinning. SPD was obtained through high energy ball milling with 10% (wt%) Polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) as dispersant for 6 h. The diameters of SPD (400 nm-1000nm) were 30 times less than that of the normal powdered diatomite particles, and SPD also had pores inside based on Rhodamine B (RhB) micro-pollutant. The composite sub-micron fibers were composed by three dimensional networks from PVA sub-micron fibers, on which SPD particles were randomly attached on. The composite sub-micron fibers exhibited excellent mechanical behavior and stable thermal decomposition property in the temperature from 275 °C to 300 °C. Comparing with PVA sub-micron fibers, SPD-PVA composite sub-micron fibers possess extra 36% adsorption capacity to RhB, which was due to 48.5% (wt%) of SPD in fibers. Conserving the adsorptive functionality of SPD particles in electrospinning non-woven polymeric fiber, could enable them to be used in the fields of adsorbants.Graphical abstract
Source: Materials Chemistry and Physics - Category: Materials Science Source Type: research