Electrospun Polycarbonate-Thermoplastic Polyurethane Nanocomposite Membranes Incorporating Copper Oxide Nanoparticles for Efficient Water Treatment: Anti-fouling Performance Against Organic Pollutant 


Vol. 26,  No. 9, pp. 3871-3888, Sep.  2025
10.1007/s12221-025-01073-1


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  Abstract

Electrospun nanocomposite membranes (ENCMs) offer promising advancements for water microfiltration (MF) applications. In this study, polycarbonate/thermoplastic polyurethane (PC/TPU) nanocomposite membranes were electrospun and incorporated with 1, 3, and 5 wt.% copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs). The resulting membranes were evaluated in terms of their morphological features, chemical composition, hydrophilicity, tensile strength, water flux performance, and anti-fouling capabilities. Morphological analysis revealed that the average diameter of the electrospun nanofibers ranged between 67 and 90 nm. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) indicated a tendency for CuO NPs migration and agglomeration at the highest loading of 5 wt.%. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the presence of all characteristic functional groups from the constituent materials in the final nanocomposite membranes. Water contact angle (WCA) measurements demonstrated a significant improvement in membrane hydrophilicity with CuO NP incorporation. Specifically, WCA decreased from 114° for the neat membrane to 63° when the CuO NP content was increased to 3 wt.%. Water flux experiments were carried out using a submerged filtration module with humic acid (HA) as a model organic pollutant. The membrane containing 3 wt.% CuO NPs exhibited a pure water flux of 907 L.m−2.h−1 and a HA solution flux of 446 L.m−2.h−1. Furthermore, NFM-Cu3 displayed superior anti-fouling performance with an irreversible fouling ratio (IFR) of only 5.8% and high HA rejection efficiency of about 99%. These findings suggest that ENCMs containing CuO NPs has the potential to serve as an effective alternative to conventional thin-film polymer membranes in water filtration systems, offering improved permeability, selectivity, and fouling resistance.

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  Cite this article

[IEEE Style]

J. Yekrang, H. Etemadi, S. M. Sajjadi, "Electrospun Polycarbonate-Thermoplastic Polyurethane Nanocomposite Membranes Incorporating Copper Oxide Nanoparticles for Efficient Water Treatment: Anti-fouling Performance Against Organic Pollutant," Fibers and Polymers, vol. 26, no. 9, pp. 3871-3888, 2025. DOI: 10.1007/s12221-025-01073-1.

[ACM Style]

Javad Yekrang, Habib Etemadi, and Seyed Mehdi Sajjadi. 2025. Electrospun Polycarbonate-Thermoplastic Polyurethane Nanocomposite Membranes Incorporating Copper Oxide Nanoparticles for Efficient Water Treatment: Anti-fouling Performance Against Organic Pollutant. Fibers and Polymers, 26, 9, (2025), 3871-3888. DOI: 10.1007/s12221-025-01073-1.

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pISSN : 1229 - 9197
eISSN : 1875 - 0052

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