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Activated carbon nanofiber nonwoven for removal of emulsified oil from water

Year: 2020

Journal: Microporous Mesoporous Mat., Volume 296, APR

Authors: Waisi, Basma I.; Arena, Jason T.; Benes, Nieck E.; Nijmeijer, Arian; McCutcheon, Jeffrey R.

Organizations: Higher Committee for Education Development (HCED) in Iraq [1000324]; NWRI-AMTA Fellowship for Membrane Technology; National Science Foundation GK-12 ProgramNational Science Foundation (NSF)

Keywords: Activated carbon; Nonwoven; Emulsion; Batch; Flow-through; And adsorption

Activated carbon nanofiber nonwoven (ACNFN) has the potential for being high capacity and throughput sorbent for a variety of contaminants in water due to high porosity and permeability, respectively. In this work, we explore the removal of emulsified oil from water using ACNFNs in both a batch and flow-through mode. The ACNFNs were prepared by pyrolysis of electrospun polyacrylonitrile and characterized for specific surface area, hydrophobicity, and mechanical strength. The ACNFNs exhibit a removal efficiency of up to 95% in batch mode and outperform our control tests with non-activated carbon nanofiber nonwoven and a commercial granular activated carbon. Adsorption tests in a flow-through mode demonstrated characteristic breakthrough behavior with subsequent clogging. Removal efficiency increased with the thickness of the mat and with prolonged operation due to ripening.