Fabrication of an amino-modified MWCNTs grafted with chlorosulfonated PMIA nanofibrous membrane via electrospinning for efficient high-temperature dust filtration

The development of nanofibrous membrane with exceptional filtration efficiency, excellent mechanical properties, and high-temperature resistance poses a significant challenge in the field of industrial dust removal. Incorporating multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into poly(m-phenylene isophthalamide) PMIA enhances the mechanical properties of nanofibrous membrane fabricated via electrospinning. However, the application of MWCNTs is limited due to their poor dispersion and self-aggregation in solvents. Herein, amino-modified MWCNTs (MWCNTs-NH2) grafted with chlorosulfonated PMIA (PMIA-SO2Cl) nanofibrous membrane was fabricated via electrospinning. The results demonstrated that the coupling effect of PMIA-SO2Cl and MWCNTs-NH2 significantly enhanced the stability of MWCNTs in the PMIA electrospinning solution, resulting in a more homogeneous dispersion of MWCNTs and a smaller average particle size (D50 = 198.03 nm). The filtration efficiency of the most penetrating particle size (MPPS) and the tensile strength of PMIA-SO2Cl/MWCNTs-NH2 nanofibrous membrane were 99.990 % and 57.514 MPa, respectively. The tensile strength retention rates in 30 wt% H2SO4 and 10 wt% NaOH were 52.56 % and 80.25 %, respectively. The MWCNTs-NH2/PMIA-SO2Cl nanofibrous membrane exhibited significantly enhanced mechanical property, filtration efficiency and high-temperature resistance (approximately 250 °C) compared to the unmodified nanofibrous membranes. This study was instructive for the application of electrospinning nanofibrous membranes in the field of high-temperature dust removal.