Development of polyelectrolyte multilayer-coated electrospun cellulose acetate fiber mat as composite membranes

Electrostatic multilayers of chitosan (CHI)/sodium alginate (SA) and CHI/poly(styrene sulfonate) sodium salt (PSS) were alternatively coated on electrospun cellulose acetate (CA) fiber mat. Morphologies of the composite membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The morphology of the CHI/SA-coated membrane was denser than the CHI/PSS-coated one. The top layers consisted of carboxyl and sulfonic functional groups for SA and PSS layers, respectively. Amino groups of CHI were only presented in slight quantity. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed the deposition of the amino groups of CHI on the multilayer membrane surface. These composite membranes were characterized for its water permeability where the water flux decreased with an increase in the number of the bilayers. The water flux was in the range of 60 and 40 L m−2 h−1 for 15 and 25 bilayered membranes, respectively. The sodium chloride (NaCl) solution flux was lower than the pure water flux due to the effect of osmotic pressure, and it decreased with an increase in the NaCl concentration. The rejection of NaCl increased substantially with the number of the bilayers of the polyelectrolytes multilayers. The level of NaCl rejection from this work was in the range of 6% and 15% for 15 and 25 bilayered membranes, respectively.