# Patent

## Title
Nano-fiber material and salt rejection filtration material

## Abstract

The invention discloses a nano-fiber material, wherein the nano-fiber material is formed by spinning an ionic polymer into a nano-fiber nonwoven, and the ionic polymer is represented by the formula:




    
    
        wherein:
        R1 includes phenyl sulfonate or alkyl sulfonate; R2 includes
    
    






R3 includes





and m/n is between 1/50 and 50/1, q≧0.

## Background
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This Application claims priority of Taiwan Patent Application No. 98106638, filed on Mar. 2, 2009, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nano-fiber material, and in particular relates to a salt rejection filtration material.
2. Description of the Related Art
Water treatment has grown in importance recently, as industries continue to expand and global warming becomes more of a problem. Several salt rejection filtration materials which may be used in seawater and wastewater have been developed. The developmental objectives of the materials are to increase salt rejection and water flux.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,700 discloses a membrane made of cross-linked poly methyl methacrylate. The membrane has a 9.1 GFD flux, and a 97.9% salt rejection, when tested under an operating pressure of 400 psi using 2500 ppm of salt water.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,964 discloses a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane, wherein the RO membrane has good wetting property by using amine compound to treat the surface of the RO membrane. The RO membrane has a 48 GFD flux, when tested under an operating pressure of 225 psi using 2000 ppm of salt water. The RO membrane exhibits high flux like nanofiltration material.
Salt rejection filtration materials are in the form of a membrane in prior art. However, in order to improve flux, the membrane needs to be operated under a high pressure. Meanwhile, fiber has advantages of high surface area, high porosity and low pressure filtration. Accordingly, if a filtration material in the form of a fiber is developed, salt rejection and water flux of filtration material may be increased.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides a nano-fiber material, wherein the nano-fiber material is formed by spinning an ionic polymer into a nano-fiber nonwoven, and the ionic polymer is represented by the formula:




wherein: R1 comprises phenyl sulfonate or alkyl sulfonate; R2 comprises




R3 comprises





and m/n is between 1/50 and 50/1, q≧0.

The present invention provides a salt rejection filtration material, wherein the salt rejection filtration material is formed by spinning an ionic polymer into a nano-fiber nonwoven, and the ionic polymer is represented by the formula:




wherein: R1 comprises phenyl sulfonate or alkyl sulfonate; R2 comprises




R3 comprises





and m/n is between 1/50 and 50/1, q≧0

A detailed description is given in the following embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.


DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a nano-fiber material, wherein the nano-fiber material is formed by spinning an ionic polymer into a nano-fiber nonwoven, and the ionic polymer is represented by the formula:




wherein: R1 comprises phenyl sulfonate or alkyl sulfonate; R2 comprises




R3 comprises





and m/n is between 1/50 and 50/1, q≧0.

When salt water is filtered by the nano-fiber material, the ions dissolved in water are repelled by the ions at the R1 group and R2 group of the nano-fiber material due to the electron-repelling effect. Thus, only water molecules pass through the nano-fiber material. When q is larger than 0 (>0), the function of the R3 group of the nano-fiber material is to improve its stability in water. In another embodiment, when q is equal to zero, there is no R3 group in the nano-fiber material.
The nano-fiber material of the invention is formed by spinning an ionic polymer into a nano-fiber nonwoven, wherein the nano-fiber nonwoven also combines with other fibers or resins to form a composite. The nano-fiber material is made by spinning techniques, such as solution spinning or electrospinning. The nano-fiber nonwoven has high surface areas and high ion density to intact with the ions dissolved in water. Thus, repelling effect is increased and salt rejection efficiency is improved.
Furthermore, the nano-fiber nonwoven is obtained by directly spinning the ionic polymer without further modification as in conventional methods.
The nano-fiber nonwoven formed by spinning techniques has a diameter of about 20 nm-700 nm and a weight of about 10-80 g/m2. Thus, the nano-fiber material may be applied in various fields, such as salt rejection process, wastewater treatment, ultra-purified water treatment, water softing or heavy metal wastewater recycling.
Additionally, the invention also provides a salt rejection filtration material, wherein the salt rejection filtration material is formed by spinning an ionic polymer into a nonwoven, and the ionic polymer is represented by the formula as presented above.
When seawater or wastewater is desalted by the filtration material of the invention, the ions dissolved (even the smallest ions (e.g. Na+)) in water are repelled by the ions at the R1 group and R2 group of the filtration material due to the electron-repelling effect. Thus, salt in water is removed.
The conventional reverse osmosis (RO) membranes have small pores (smaller than 1 nm). Thus, the membranes must be operated under a pressure which is larger than about 800 psi, even 1000 psi. The main advantage of the invention is that the salt rejection filtration material of the invention can exhibit high flux as with the conventional RO membrane, but may be operated under a lower pressure environment. Flux of the salt rejection filtration material of the invention is 18-90 L/m2/hr flux, and salt rejection rate is 60%-90%, when tested under an operating pressure smaller than of 10 psi. In order to improve salt rejection efficiency, the salt rejection filtration material of the invention may be arranged in series without increasing operating pressure.
The following description is of the best-contemplated mode of carrying out the invention. This description is made for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention and should not be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the invention is best determined by reference to the appended claims.
EXAMPLE
Example 1
10 g of sodium styrenesulfate, 40 g of 4-vinyl pyridine, 10 g of styrene, 50 g of deionized water and 50 g of isopropanol (IPA) were dissolved in a reaction flask, and stirred under an N2 atmosphere at 70° C. A solution containing 0.2 g of potassium persulfate (KPS) in 10 mL of deionized water was slowly added into the reaction flask, and kept for 3 hours. The mixture was dipped into a 1%-3% sodium chloride (NaCl) solution for purification. After purification, 49.8 g of a polymer was obtained. (83%)
Example 2
10 g of sodium styrenesulfate, 20 g of 4-vinyl pyridine, 10 g of styrene, 50 g of deionized water and 50 g of isopropanol (IPA) were dissolved in a reaction flask, and stirred under an N2 atmosphere at 70° C. A solution containing 0.2 g of potassium persulfate (KPS) in 10 mL of deionized water was slowly added into the reaction flask, and kept for 3 hours. The mixture was dipped into a 1%-3% sodium chloride (NaCl) solution for purification. After purification, 36 g of a polymer was obtained. (90%)
Example 3
10 g of sodium styrenesulfate, 40 g of 4-vinyl pyridine, 7 g of styrene, 50 g of deionized water and 50 g of isopropanol (IPA) were dissolved in a reaction flask, and stirred under an N2 atmosphere at 70° C. A solution containing 0.2 g of potassium persulfate (KPS) in 10 mL of deionized water was slowly added into the reaction flask, and kept for 3 hours. The mixture was dipped into a 1%-3% sodium chloride (NaCl) solution for purification. After purification, 50.1 g of a polymer was obtained. (88%)
Example 4
36 g of the polymer of Example 1 was dissolved in 200 g of N,N-dimethyl-acetamide (DMAc) to provide a spinning solution. The nano-fiber material was deposited on a weight of 70 g/m2 PET (polyethylene terephthalate) non-woven fabric by electrospinning, with an applied voltage of 39 KV, spray amount of 1200 μL/min, a 20 cm distance between the collector and spinneret, and air pressure of 5 kg/cm3. A composite nano-fiber filtration material with a diameter of 85 nm-135 nm and weight of 88 g/m2 was obtained.
Example 5
36 g of the polymer of Example 2 was dissolved in 200 g of N,N-dimethyl-acetamide (DMAc) to provide a spinning solution. The nano-fiber material was deposited on a weight of 70 g/m2 PET (polyethylene terephthalate) non-woven fabric by electrospinning, with an applied voltage of 39 KV, spray amount of 1200 μL/min, a 20 cm distance between the collector and spinneret, and air pressure of 5 kg/cm3. A composite nano-fiber filtration material with a diameter of 75 nm-175 nm and weight of 95 g/m2 was obtained.
Example 6
36 g of the polymer of Example 3 was dissolved in 200 g of N,N-dimethyl-acetamide (DMAc) to provide a spinning solution. The nano-fiber material was deposited on a weight of 70 g/m2 PET (polyethylene terephthalate) non-woven fabric by electrospinning, with an applied voltage of 39 KV, spray amount of 1200 μL/min, a 20 cm distance between the collector and spinneret, and air pressure of 5 kg/cm3. A composite nano-fiber filtration material with a diameter of 70 nm-120 nm and weight of 94 g/m2 was obtained.
Example 7, 8, 9
The nano-fiber composite of Example 4, 5 and 6 were tested in water containing 32000 ppm salt, as shown in Table 1.
Comparative Example 1
A commercially available filtration material Filmett (SW30HR-380) was tested in water containing 32000 ppm salt, as shown in Table 1. Referring to Table 1, the flux of the nano-fiber filtration material of Example 7, 8 and 9 were all larger than 18 L/m2/hr, and the largest value is about 121 L/m2/hr. The pressure of Example 7, 8 and 9 was lower than 10 psi, more specifically, lower than that of the Comparative Example 1. Additionally, the salt rejection of Example 7, 8 and 9 was about 60%-90%.












TABLE 1










Comparative



Example 7
Example 8
Example 9
Example 1




















flux (L/m2/hr)
121
76
25
30


pressure (psi)
3
1
1
860


salt rejection
80.6
85.4
90.5
83.6


(%)









While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.

## Claims

1. A nano-fiber material, wherein the nano-fiber material is formed by spinning an ionic polymer into a nano-fiber nonwoven, and the ionic polymer is represented by the formula:



wherein:
R1 comprises phenyl sulfonate or alkyl sulfonate;
R2 comprises




R3 comprises





and
m/n is between 1/50 and 50/1, q≧0.

2. The nano-fiber material as claimed in claim 1, wherein q>0.

3. The nano-fiber material as claimed in claim 1, wherein q=0.

4. The nano-fiber material as claimed in claim 1, wherein the nano-fiber nonwoven has a diameter of about 20 nm-700 nm.

5. The nano-fiber material as claimed in claim 4, wherein the nano-fiber material is made by solution spinning or electrospinning.

6. The nano-fiber material as claimed in claim 4, wherein the nano-fiber material is applied in salt rejection processes, wastewater treatment, ultra-purified water treatment, water softing or heavy metal wastewater recycling.

7. A salt rejection filtration material, wherein the salt rejection filtration material is formed by spinning an ionic polymer into a nano-fiber nonwoven, and the ionic polymer is represented by the formula:



wherein:
R1 comprises phenyl sulfonate or alkyl sulfonate;
R2 comprises




R3 comprises





and
m/n is between 1/50 and 50/1, q≧0.

8. The salt rejection filtration material as claimed in claim 7, wherein q>0.

9. The salt rejection filtration material as claimed in claim 7, wherein q=0.

10. The salt rejection filtration material as claimed in claim 7, wherein the nano-fiber nonwoven has a diameter of about 20 nm-700 nm.

11. The salt rejection filtration material as claimed in claim 7, wherein the nano-fiber material is made by solution spinning or electrospinning.