Lavu, Rajesh (2017) Comparaticve study on the water filtration potential of polyacrylonitrile membrane coated with titanium dioxide and cellulose nitrate membrane. Coursework Masters thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Rapid industrialisation and continual population explosion has substantially increased the demand for pure water. Among the distribution of water on earth only 0.3% is consumable and accessible whereas 97% is saline water moreover the remaining freshwater is in the form of groundwater, glaciers and icecaps that are inaccessible. In order to satisfy this indispensable need for drinking water constant research in the water purifying methods are being explored. The application of electrospun nanofibers in the water filtration methods to reduce the contaminants present in water has shown favourable outcomes. Referring to the flexible adaptability of elctrospun Polyacrylonitrile membranes, combining it with Titanium nanoparticles is under research to improve the efficiency of the membrane, so that it can potentially increase the water quality purified using it.
This paper presents the results of the research performed on electrospun Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibrous membrane coated with Titanium oxide powder. Electrospun PAN membrane with a pore size of 530-650nm and an average thickness of 1.31µm were used in the present research. Simple microscopic analysis of the membrane has revealed the average pore size and the Titanium dioxide particle distribution on the membrane. The mechanical properties of PAN membrane were explored by conducting tensile tests and dynamic mechanical analysis. A comparison of the filtration efficiency of PAN membrane coated with TiO2 and Cellulose Nitrate was also revealed by performing filtration tests on the membranes with varying ppm of NaF solution. The final outcomes of the research illustrates that the PAN membrane coated with TiO2 had better filtration efficiency compared to cellulose nitrate membrane and Titanium nanoparticles has considerably increased the performance of the membrane.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Coursework Masters) |
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| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address. |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Current - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - No Department (1 Jul 2013 -) |
| Supervisors: | Epaarachchi, Jayantha |
| Qualification: | Master of Engineering Sciences (Mechanical) |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Jul 2026 00:25 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Jul 2026 00:25 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | water purifying, electrospun nanofibers, water filtration, elctrospun Polyacrylonitrile membranes, Titanium nanoparticles |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/53279 |
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