Fabrication and Characterization of Diatomite Functionalized Cellulose Acetate Nanofibers

Cellulose acetate (CA) nanofiber membranes incorporated with diatomite (DE) were prepared by electrospinning to produce electrospun nanofiber membranes with high specific surface area and high porosity with fine pores. When the DE percentage increased from 0 to 30%, the water contact angle (WCA) of the membranes increased from 86.21 degrees to 118.44 degrees, indicating that neat CA nanofibers were more hydrophilic than CA/DE nanofibers and had a better wetting tendency. CA, CA-10DE, and CA-20DE nanofiber membranes showed a mean flow pore size (MFP) of 2.941, 2.681, and 2.408 mu m, respectively, with narrow pore size distributions. However, the CA-30DE nanofiber membrane showed a smaller MFP size of 0.5014 mu m. CA nanofibers were produced in the range of 206.31 to 281.13 nm. The dye removal ability of these membranes was tested using an aqueous solution of C.I. Reactive Red 141.