Fabrication and characterisation of polycaprolactone/gelatin/chitosan (PCL/GEL/CHI) electrospun nano-membranes for wastewater purification

The present study demonstrates the fabrication, characterisation and filtration efficiency of electrospun nanofibrous membranes (ENMs) from biodegradable polymers, namely, polycaprolactone (PCL), gelatin (GEL) and chitosan (CHI). The aim of the study was to fabricate ENMs with superior mechanical strength and water flux, by blending the properties of PCL, GEL and CHI. Morphology, hydrophilicity, porosity, mechanical and thermal stability of ENMs showed significant changes with blending compositions. The efficiency of ENMs for filtration applications was investigated using methylene blue (MB) based model effluent, and wastewater collected from local water bodies. Results showed that ENMs with high biopolymer content (CHI and GEL) showed high efficiency for MB removal (96.2 ± 0.81 %), and for reduction of physicochemical parameters of wastewater. The fabricated ENMs also showed stable flux and superior selectivity (>90 %) in long-term filtration studies using wastewater and MB model effluent. Morphological and thermal studies showed that the fabricated ENMs retained its chemical and physical identity, even after 15 cycles of filtration experiments. The ENMs also exhibited high efficiency in the removal of microorganisms from wastewater.