Absorption Property of Polyamide Nanofibrous Membrane on Dyestuff for Purifying Wastewater

The aim of this study was to examine the use of polyamide 6 nanofibers as an adsorbent material for removal of dye on textile wastewater. Simulated wastewater of acid dye (namely Color Index Acid blue 41) was used for experiment test with concentration of 0.01, 0.02 and 0.03g/L. Two kinds of electrospun polyamide 6 nanofibrous membranes with weight per unit area respectively 1.0 and 2.9g/m2 were used as the adsorbent material and the dead-end filtration process was performed continuously by self-assembled apparatus with starting flux around 2500L/(m2·h). The experiments were realized in room temperature. The result of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) indicated that these two kinds of nanofibrous membranes are the same without any other surface modification, while the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images showed the diameter of nanofibers are respectively around 126 and 178nm. The adsorption results showed the adsorbed amount of adsorbate is related to the specific surface area of the adsorbent as the amount was higher with the larger specific surface area. The concentration of adsorbate has a little effect on the adsorption result due to the fouling of the adsorbent and the interaction between adsorbate themselves. The fouling of the adsorbent was becoming much severer as the concentration of adsorbate increasing, and this trend was more obvious on the adsorbent with larger specific surface area.