Fabrication of Cellulose Acetate-Based Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes and Its Application for Ciprofloxacin Removal

This chapter discusses the fabrication of cellulose acetate-based electrospun nanofiber membranes (ENFMs) and their applications to remove ciprofloxacin (CIP) from wastewater. Polyethylene oxide (PEO) and polycaprolactone (PCL) were used in combination with cellulose acetate (CA) as the base polymer. ENFMs were prepared with varying solvents and used for adsorption of CIP from wastewater. Different polymer solutions with different combinations were made with different solvents in the respective ratios by conducting trial-and-error basis and electrospun nanofiber membrane was fabricated by electrospinning. Thin nanofiber membranes with a size of less than about 100 nm were formed and used as adsorbents. The adsorption experiments were carried out with 10 mg/L of CIP at adsorbent doses of 3 and 5 g/L at pH 4. The contact time was 5 and 20 h, respectively. Depending on the polymers used, the percentage removal of CIP varied from 5% to 48%. Since significant removal was not achieved, an attempt was made by impregnating clay montmorillonite with polymer at a suitable combination to develop adsorbing sites and percentage removal was achieved to be more than 86%.