Fabrication of Polyacrylonitrile-Polyoxomolybdate Composite Nanofibers Membrane as a Protective Layer in Protective Textiles by Electrospinning

Hypothesis: 

The present study attempts to develop application of nanofibers containing nanocluster {Mo132} in respiratory masks and absorbent clothing.

Nanofibers polyacrylonitrile-{Mo132} with an average diameter of about 150 nm was produced through electrospinning process which was optimized by experimental design methods such as Taguchi and Central Composite Design (CCD) methods. The morphology and chemical structure of nanofibers were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques. The presence of nanocluster {Mo132} in the nanofiber structure was confirmed by UV-Vis spectroscopy. The nanofiber diameter and number of nodes were determined by image processing software. The final nanofilter was prepared based on the optimized electrospinning conditions and its performance was tested.

The optimized conditions of the elecrospinning process are 10% (wt) concentration, 16 kV voltage, and 10 cm distance. The addition of {Mo132} to the polyacrylonitrile nanofibers improved the properties of nanofibers and their particles' adsorbtion performance. Investigation of nanofiber properties showed that nanoparticles were well distributed with good adhesion on the polymer surface. High adsorption power, fast synthetic method, low cost, biocompatibility and non-toxicity are advantages of our nanofiber structure. The ultimate goal of this research is to design and produce high-performance nanofibers to adsorb suspended particles and chemical pollutants used by police and other members of community. These nanofibers at a flow rate of 5 L/min showed an efficiency of about 93%, a pressure reduction of almost zero and a quality factor of about 4.5, which in the laboratory conditions of the present study is introduced as a particle control medium.