Electrospinning organic solvent resistant preoxidized poly(acrylonitrile) nanofiber membrane and its properties

A high performance preoxidized poly(acrylonitrile) (O-PAN) nanofiber membrane with excellent solvent resistance, thermal stability and flexibility was fabricated by the preoxidation of electrospun PAN nanofiber membrane. The performance of resultant O-PAN nanofiber membrane was optimized by altering the PAN concentration and preoxidation temperature. The results showed that the O-PAN nanofiber membrane which made from PAN concentration of 14% (mass) and preoxidation temperature of 250.0 °C have a more optimal comprehensive performance. In the long-term separation test of SiO2 particle (1 μm) in DMAc suspension, the permeate flux of O-PAN nanofiber membrane stabilized at 227.91 L·m−2·h−1 (25 °C, 0.05 MPa) while the SiO2 rejection above 99.6%, which showed excellent solvent resistance and separation performance. In order to further explore the application of the O-PAN nanofiber membrane, the O-PAN nanofiber membrane was treated with fluoride and used in oil/water separation process. The O-PAN nanofiber membrane after hydrophobic treatment showed excellent hydrophobicity and good oil/water separation performance with the permeate flux about 969.59 L·m−2·h−1 while the separation efficiency above 96.1%. The O-PAN nanofiber membrane exhibited a potential application prospect in harsh environment separation.