Efficient fog harvesting through electrospun superhydrophobic polyacrylonitrile nanocomposite fiber mats

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Authors
Nizam Uddin, Md
Rahman, Muhammad M.
Asmatulu, Ramazan
Advisors
Issue Date
2020-06-08
Type
Conference paper
Keywords
Carbonization , Electrospinning , Fog harvesting , Nanocomposite fibers , Water contact angle
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Citation
Md. Nizam Uddin, Muhammad M. Rahman, and Ramazan Asmatulu "Efficient fog harvesting through electrospun superhydrophobic polyacrylonitrile nanocomposite fiber mats", Proc. SPIE 11374, Bioinspiration, Biomimetics, and Bioreplication X, 113740T (8 June 2020)
Abstract

To address the global water scarcity issue especially in arid and semi-arid regions, efficient water collecting surfaces with fast capturing and easy drainage are essential. This concern is drastically increasing and therefore scientists and engineers are challenged with urgently developing viable solutions for this global problem. Among many other options, nanoscale membranes seem to be quite attractive and very promising options to solve the global water problem due to their low energy cost and simple operational processes to produce clean and fresh water. In this work, polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with various proportions of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles and aluminum (Al) microparticles were electrospun into superhydrophobic nanocomposite fibers using electrospinning technique followed by stabilization and carbonization steps to remove all non-carbonaceous materials from the fibers and used for harvesting fog from the atmosphere. The fiber morphology, surface hydrophobicity, and fog harvesting capacity of the nanocomposite fibers were investigated. Test results reveal that the carbonized nanocomposite fibers mats exhibit superhydrophobic characteristics with a water contact angle of 155° and an efficient fog harvesting capacity of 621 mg/cm2/hr. Besides, water can be efficiently collected from the atmospheric fog and filtered using nano-membranes without using any large infrastructure. The produced water can be used for drinking, agriculture, gardening, medical, industrial, and other purposes.

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Publisher
SPIE
Journal
Book Title
Series
International Society for Optical Engineering;v.11374:art.no.113740T
PubMed ID
DOI
ISSN
0277-786X
EISSN