Facile preparation and separation performances of cellulose nanofibrous membranes

Ultrafiltration (UF) is a size selective pressure‐driven membrane separation process increasingly required for high efficient water treatment and suspended solids removal in many industrial applications. This study examined the morphology of as‐prepared cellulose nanofibers and then utilized the nanofibers dispersion to fabricate nanofibrous nanoporous membranes with potential wide applications in various fields including water treatment. The nanofibers were prepared using a simple and powerful mechanical high intensity ultrasonication following a pre‐chemical treatment of α‐cellulose. The cellulose nanofibers’ morphology, crystallinity, and yield were found to be influenced by pre‐chemical treatment. Cellulose nanofibrous membranes were fabricated from cellulose nanofibers dispersion on a porous support. A nanoporous structure with an extensive interconnected network of fine cellulose nanofibers was formed on the support substrate. The resulting membranes exhibited typical and high‐efficient UF performances with high water fluxes of up to 2.75 10³ L/m²/h/bar. The membranes also displayed high rejections for ferritin and 10 nm gold nanoparticles with a reactive surface area capable of rapidly decolorizing methylene blue from its aqueous solution. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43544.