Journal of Membrane Science 686 (2023) 121996

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Journal of Membrane Science

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/memsci

Self-assembly-dominated hierarchical porous nanofibrous membranes for

efficient high-temperature air filtration and unidirectional
water penetration
Wenhui Wei a, Yuanyuan Tao a, Tianxue Feng a, Yitian Wu a, Linjie Li a, Jie Pang b, Dongwei Li a,
Guanchen Xu a, Xiu Liang a, Meng Gao a, Xingshuang Zhang a, *
a
Advanced Materials Institute, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, 250014, PR China
b
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, 250353, PR China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Increasingly-severe air pollution problem dominated by various air pollutants makes the development of air
Polyimide filtration materials a hotspot. A multi-functional air filter with high efficiency and high temperature resistance
Janus nanofibrous membrane was produced using a co-electrospinning method combined with subsequent impregnation treatment. Herein,
PM filtration
Cu-MOF was assembled onto polyimide (PI) nanofibers to construct a hierarchical porous structure. Diamine
CO2 adsorption
monomers containing amide bonds were copolymerized in the PI skeleton to activate the surface sluggishness of
Unidirectional water penetration
PI. β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) was used as PI fiber inducer to achieve the self-assembly of Cu-MOF crystals via
hydrogen bonding. On one hand, PI/CD-MOF nanofiber filter possesses an excellent PM0.3 filtration efficiency
(99.85%) and a low pressure drop (136 Pa), which are attributed to high specific surface area of the nanofibrous
filter. On the other hand, the filter demonstrates the optimal performance in terms of CO2 adsorption due to the
outstanding open metal sites of Cu-MOF. In particular, Janus double-layer composite nanofibrous membrane,
which consists of PI/CD-MOF and PI membranes, has unique unidirectional water permeability performance and
long-term filtration stability. Base on the above studies, this preparation strategy could provide idea for the
development of multifunctional air purifiers.

1. Introduction
In recent decades, the problem of air pollution has been considered
as the world’s largest environmental problem [1–3]. The air pollutants
mainly come from industrial production and urban construction,
including particulate matter (PM), NOx, SOx, CO, CO2, and volatile
organic gases (VOCs). Crucially, these pollutants are quietly threatening
human health and living environment. In particular, PM2.5 (aero­
dynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm) can stay in the air for several hours and
could carry VOCs, bacteria and viruses [4–9]. According to epidemic
medical research, this inhalable PMs can penetrate human cells directly
and attack the cardiovascular and respiratory system, even causing
cancers due to their small sizes [10,11]. It should be pointed that most
PM2.5 comes from high-temperature exhaust gases, such as garbage
incineration, metallurgical, combustion of fossil fuels and industrial
waste gas, etc. It is reported that the annual high-temperature industrial
flue gas emissions of up to 10 million tons, are an important part of the
total amount of air pollution. The consequent global warming issue af­
fects the ecological balance, such as extreme climate changes, melting of
glaciers, land desertification etc. While, excessive CO2 emissions from
anthropogenic burning of fossil and other energy fuels may be respon­
sible for major global warming. Among the numerous efforts, the direct
filtration of PM pollutants from high-temperature exhaust gases sources
is undoubtedly a key method to effectively reduce air pollution. Carbon
adsorption is considered an effective and promising solution to mitigate
CO2 emissions due to mild use conditions. Fibrous membrane adsorbents
have the excellent characteristics of high specific surface area and
microstructure designability, which can avoid the problem of difficult
recovery and secondary pollution compared with powder adsorbents.
Hence, high-temperature air filtration membrane technology in collab­
oration with CO2 adsorption is a sustainable way in the protection for
human health [5,12,13].
The good interconnecting pore structure of fiber-based air filtration
media has outstanding advantages in intercepting small aerosol

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: xszhang@qlu.edu.cn (X. Zhang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2023.121996
Received 2 June 2023; Received in revised form 10 August 2023; Accepted 14 August 2023
Available online 15 August 2023
0376-7388/© 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
W. Wei et al.
particles, such as widely used nonwovens and ultrafine glass fiber mats.
These filter media are usually achieved by melt blowing [14,15], solu­
tion blowing [16,17], centrifugal spinning [18], and other methods,
showing high yields and good mechanical properties. However, the fi­
bers prepared by these methods usually possess large diameter and
simple structure, resulting in insufficient removal efficiency of fine
particles. In addition, the current complex air environment has further
improved the requirements for fiber interface combination and complex
morphology. Electrospinning technology plays an important role in the
development of air filtration materials for the production continuous
fibers of controllable size [19–21]. Compared with other methods, the
nanofibers membrane prepared by electrospinning have significant ad­
vantages, such as smaller fiber diameter, high porosity, high specific
surface area and controllable microstructure, which is beneficial to
enhance filtration efficiency for fine particles. Existing high temperature
resistant fiber-based filter materials have outstanding mechanical
properties, including polymer fibers, inorganic ceramic fibers and metal
fibers, etc. Polymer fiber materials mainly include polytetrafluoro­
ethylene (PTFE) [13], aramid [22], polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) [23]
and polyimide (PI) [24]. PI has strong mechanical properties and
structural designability owing to its high aromatic heterocycles and
functional imide bonds. In addition, the high thermal stability and flame
retardance substantially of PI makes it become an irreplaceable candi­
date in the field of high-temperature air filtration [4].
Balancing the relationship between filtration efficiency and pressure
drop has become a general principle for designing air filtration media.
However, there are still two challenges when creating an PI-based
nanofiber air filter material with excellent performance: (1) the con­
struction of special structures on the surface of PI-based nanofibers to
overcome the problem of insufficient removal of fine aerosol particles
due to their smooth surface; (2) the development of new multifunctional
air filters, including but not limited to adsorption harmful gases, so as to
cope with the complex and volatile environment air pollution [1,
24–31].
Cu-BTC MOF (also called HKUST-1) is a kind of metal-organic
framework material with an octahedral morphology formed by tri­
mesic acid through copper coordination. Due to the rich functional
groups and high specific surface area, it has attracted much attention in
the field of gas adsorption and separation, especially in the capture of
CO2 [32]. To effectively exploit the multifunctional integration of its
specific functional components, the hybrids of fibers and Cu-MOF
nanoparticles were attempted. However, the MOFs reported in litera­
tures usually behave in the form of powders with a low density, making
it difficult to assemble them on PI fibers with smooth surfaces devoid of
reactive groups [33]. Accordingly, it is necessary to seek a simple
composite strategy via coordinating fibers with Cu-MOF to maintain a
low pressure drop while effectively improving the capture of fine PMs.
Previously, some reports have also successfully demonstrated the solu­
tion of synergy between fibers and MOFs through deposition [34],
in-situ growth [35,36] and self-assembly [4]. In contrast, self-assembly,
which drives the assembly of materials relying on intermolecular forces,
has advantages including simple preparation. Also, self-assembly could
realize the functional and structural integrity of multiple components to
a certain extent. As a water-soluble cyclic oligosaccharide with a hy­
drophobic internal cavity and a hydrophilic external surface, β-Cyclo­
dextrin (β-CD) combined with a variety of substances could form
host-guest inclusion complexes [37,38]. The abundant hydroxyl
groups on the outer surface show their unique self-assembly capacity.
For example, Xie et al. [39] successfully self-assembled NH2-MIL-101
(Cr) on the surface of modified PI fibers. The strong hydrogen bonding
between β-CD and CTAB induces the formation of supramolecular
complex, as an inducer, improved the pollutant capture performance
significantly.
In this work, we synthesized a PI-based nanofibrous air filtration
membrane with a hierarchical porous structure through simple elec­
trospinning and impregnation treatment strategy. β-CD was used as an
2
Journal of Membrane Science 686 (2023) 121996
interfacial ‘‘binder’’ embedded into PI fibers via co-electrospinning.
Strong hydrogen bond interactions improve the affinity between the
polymer matrix and Cu-MOF nanoparticles, thereby inducing Cu-MOF
crystals to self-assemble on the fibers. The obtained PI/CD-MOF filtra­
tion membrane shows excellent filtration performance for PM0.3 and a
high thermal stability. Due to the synergistic effect between the fibers
and Cu-MOF nanoparticles, the membrane has an abundant pore
structure and a high specific surface area, whose CO2 adsorption is also
analyzed in detail. Importantly, we assembled a hydrophobic PI mem­
brane layer and a super-hydrophilic PI/CD-MOF membrane layer into a
double-layer Janus nanofibrous membrane mask. The mask shows
higher comfort than other materials while spontaneously transporting
water vapor from human breath, suitable for high-temperature and
high-humidity environments. At the same time, the Janus double-layer
membrane also has a stable and efficient filtration for PM0.3, showing
a great potential in the field of personal protection, gas adsorption and
separation, as well as high temperature-resistance filtration.
2. Experimental
2.1. Materials
3, 3’, 4, 4’-Biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (BPDA, 97%), 4, 4’-
Diaminobenzanilide (4, 4’-DABA, 98%), β-Cyclodextrin (β-CD, 98%),
copper nitrate trihydrate (Cu(NO3)2⋅3H2O), 1,3,5-trimellitic acid (BTC),
and anhydrous ethanol were purchased from Shanghai Aladdin Chem­
ical Reagent Co., Ltd, China. N, N’-Dimethylacetamide (DMAC,
≥99.8%) was purchased from Shanghai Macklin Biochemical Co., Ltd.,
China. Deionized water was made in the laboratory. BPDA needs to be
sublimed and purified before using to avoid being hydrolyzed by air
water.
2.2. Fabrication of electrospinning PI and PI/CD-MOF nanofibrous
membrane
2.2.1. Fabrication PI nanofibrous membrane
Simply put, PI nanofibrous membrane was prepared by two-step
process of electrospinning and imidization (the preparation of precur­
sor polyamide acid (PAA) solution was detailed in the Supporting In­
formation). The viscous PAA solution was poured into 10 mL disposable
syringe with 18 G metal needle for electrospinning. The injection speed,
high voltage and needle tip to the collecting drum were 0.0008 mm/s,
20 kV and 20 cm, respectively. In particular, the entire electrospinning
process needs to be carried out in a high humidity environment of
65–70%. Then the as-prepared PAA nanofibrous membrane was dried at
60 oC for 12 h, and thermally imidized in air atmosphere: heated at 10
C/min to 180 oC and kept for 1 h to remove the residual solvent;
◦
continuously raised to at 200 oC for 5 C/min and maintained for 1 h;
◦
finally, the light yellow PI nanofibrous membrane was obtained. The
preparation strategies of different concentration of β-CD (1, 2 and 3 wt
%) were doped in PAA solution were labeled as PAA/CD-1, PAA/CD-2
and PAA/CD-3 and described in the Supporting Information.
2.2.2. Fabrication of PI/CD-MOF nanofibrous membrane
Immerse PI/CD nanofibrous membrane in Cu(NO3)2⋅3H2O ethanol
solution for 30 min to deposit a layer of Cu2+, then the membrane was
impregnated again in BTC ethanol solution, promoting strong chelation
interaction between Cu2+ and carboxyl groups in BTC. After dipping for
30 min, the Cu-MOF would be synthesized and grown on the nanofiber
(Preparation process of pure Cu-MOF is detailed in the supporting
document). Finally, the membrane was cleaned with ethanol several
times and dried at 120 oC for 12 h. The PI-MOF nanofibrous membrane
was prepared by electrospinning PI membrane, and impregnation pro­
cedure as described above. Schematic illustration for fabrication of the
PI/CD-MOF nanofibrous membrane is shown in Fig. 1.
W. Wei et al.
Fig. 1. Schematic illustration for fabrication of the PI/CD-MOF nanofibrous membrane.
2.3. Measurement and characterization
The surface morphology and structure of nanofibers were observed
by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM, JSM-7610FPlus, Japan) and
High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM, FEI Talos
F200s, USA). The Chemical compositions of samples were characterized
by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy (VERTEX 70, Ger­
many) in the wavenumber range from 4000 to 400 cm− 1. The crystal
structure of samples was analyzed by X-ray diffraction technique (XRD,
Smartlab, Japan) in the 2θ ranges of 10-90o. The electronic state of
sample elements was measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
(XPS, Thermo ESCALAB 250Xi, USA) with a monochromatic Al Kα
(1486.6 eV). The thermal stability of samples from 25 to 800 oC was
investigated by Thermal Gravimetric Analyzer (TGA/DSC3+, METTLER
TOLEDO) with heating rate of 10 C/min N2 flow. Water contact angle of
◦
samples was measured by Contact Angle Measuring Instrument (SDC-
100, SINDIN, China). The water droplet volume was 5 μL. N2 adsorption-
desorption isotherms were examined by BET surface analyzer (Quan­
tachrome Autosorb-iQ, USA) and pore size distribution, which were
calculated by BarrettJoyner-Halenda (BJH) and Horvath-Kawazoe (HK)
method. CO2 adsorption measurements were tested at 298K on the Gas
autosorb analyzer (Quantachrome nova2000E). The purity of all ad­
sorbates (CO2 and N2 gas) reached 99.999%. The mechanical properties
of nanofiber membranes were tested by using Electronic Universal
Testing Machine (UTM2102, China) at a loading rate of 1 mm/min.
2.4. Filtration performance
The filtration performance of PI-based filters is evaluated by filtra­
tion efficiency (η), pressure drop (ΔP) and quality factor (QF). The
aerosol filtration test was operated using automatic filter Material tester
(G506, shanghai). Wherein, NaCl particles ranging from 0.3 μm to 2.5
μm were selected as aerosol particle models and the test membrane with
3
Journal of Membrane Science 686 (2023) 121996
an effective area of around 100 cm2. To ensure the accuracy of the re­
sults, all tests should be tested at least three times. The quality factor
describes the comprehensive filtration performance of the filter by the
following equation (the higher the quality factor, the better the filtration
performance) [40,41]:
ln (1 − η)
QF = − (1)
ΔP
In particular, the metal mesh with pore size of approximately 1 mm
was selected as the substrate for the filtration membrane test. The sub­
strate exerted a small influence on the test results, and the background
was deducted before testing.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Morphology, component and structure of modified PI-based filter
membranes
The basic structural properties of electrospun nanofibers directly
determine the filtration performance of membranes, so fiber diameter
and surface morphology should be discussed first. The SEM images and
mean diameter distributions of the original PI, PI-MOF and PI/CD-2-
MOF membranes are shown in Fig. 2a–c. All nanofibers demonstrate a
continuous and randomly-distributed morphology. It can be seen that
the original PI nanofibrous membrane presents a typical dual-size micro-
nano structure, and the average diameter is concentrated at 1150 ± 100
nm and 200 ± 50 nm. Coarse fibers are highly likely to be induced by a
strong chain entanglement ascribed to the involvement of amide bonds.
It is worth mentioning that this dual-size structure has obvious advan­
tages in dealing with complex pollution filtration environments. Nano-
sized fibers with large specific surface areas can effectively compen­
sate for the lack of filtration of micro-particles, while those with larger
diameter allow air flow to pass smoothly [42]. Furthermore, there is
W. Wei et al. Journal of Membrane Science 686 (2023) 121996

Fig. 2. SEM images and diameter distributions of the (a, a’) PI, (b, b’) PI-MOF, and (c, c’) PI/CD-2-MOF membranes.

occasional cross-linking among PI fibers. As is shown in Fig. 2b, the
Cu-MOF crystals are deposited inhomogeneously on the PI fibers after a
simple impregnation process, mainly concentrating on the
coarse-grained fibers and nodes where the fibers cross. Cu-MOF crystals
are cohered stably on the fibers after numerous rinses. It is highly likely
that the amide group of PI molecular chain regulates the assembly effect
of Cu-MOF crystals, ensuring the excellent structural stability of the
membrane. The average diameter of the fibers is distributed at 680 ± 20
nm due to Cu-MOF loading. Compared with PI-MOF, the loading of
Cu-MOF crystals on PI/CD-2 fibers significantly increases, forming a
typical “core-shell” structure, suggesting that β-CD is essential for
intervening the adhesion of Cu-MOF crystals on fiber surfaces (Fig. 2c).
This is because β-CD endows the nanofiber with more active groups and
plays a key bridging role in the self-assembly process of Cu-MOF crys­
tals. Besides, the fiber diameter of PI/CD-2-MOF is concentrated at 800
± 20 nm and with a narrow distribution range.
To verify the influence of β-CD concentration on the loading rate of
Cu-MOF crystals, the distribution of MOF crystals of PI/CD-1-MOF and

Fig. 3. (a) FTIR spectra and (b) XRD patterns of relevant membranes (PI, PI/CD, PI/CD-MOF) and Cu-MOF. (c) TEM images of PI-MOF membrane. Optical pho­
tographs of (d) PI and (e) PI/CD-MOF membranes.

4
W. Wei et al.
PI/CD-3-MOF fibers after the same depositing treatment for 30 min is
compared and analyzed through the SEM images shown in Fig. S1.
Surprisingly, benefiting from an appropriate amount of β-CD incorpo­
ration to help with the assembly of Cu-MOF crystals, PI/CD-2-MOF has
the most considerable loading capacity, followed by PI/CD-1-MOF. In
contrast, PI/CD-3-MOF has the lowest loading capacity. This depends on
the fact that the inclusion of β-CD leads to a decrease in the viscosity of
the electrospinning precursor solution PAA, making fine fibers (PI/CD-1:
380 ± 20 nm, PI/CD-3: 230 ± 20 nm (Fig. S2)) are not conducive to the
growth of Cu-MOF. Consequently, the structural regulation of size dis­
tribution of PI-based nanofibers can be achieved by changing the con­
tent of β-CD.
In Fig. 3a, The FTIR spectrum confirms formation of Cu-MOF crys­
tals. The prominent characteristic peaks appear at 1645 cm− 1, 1448
cm− 1 and 1370 cm− 1 delegate C=O asymmetric stretching, C-O sym­
metric stretching and O-H bending vibration, respectively, which result
from the bidentate coordination of carboxylate groups (COOH) in Cu-
MOF [35,43]. The XRD pattern in Fig. 3b, shows that the prominent
characteristic peaks at 11.6o (001), 13.4o (400), 16.4o (210), 19.1o
(440), 20.1o (600), 21.321o (111), 26.0o (731) and 29.3o (022), which
corresponds to regular cubic crystalline mixed phases of Cu-MOF [44].
TEM images of PI-MOF in Fig. 3c, insinuate that Cu-MOF nanoparticles
also possess high crystallinity on the surface of PI nanofiber, which is
consistent with the results proved through XRD. The optical photo­
graphs of the original PI membrane show a light yellow color, but after
grafting Cu-MOF crystals with a blue color, covering parts of the PI color
and turning light green, as is shown in Fig. 3d–e.
Fig. 4. (a) EDS elemental mapping of PI/CD-MOF membrane including C, O, N and Cu. High resolution (b) O1s spectrum of PI/CD membrane, (c) Cu2p and (d) N1s
spectra of PI/CD-MOF membrane.
5
Journal of Membrane Science 686 (2023) 121996
The chemical structure of multi-component PI-based filter mem­
branes was analyzed using FTIR spectrum and XRD pattern in Fig. 3a–b.
The dispersion peaks of PAA at 2200–3500 cm− 1 (Fig. S3a) band grad­
ually disappear with the thermal imine reaction, while the broad ab­
sorption peak of PI at 3250 cm− 1 is mainly caused by the stretching
vibration of amide bonds (N-H), which are from 4, 4’-DABA. In addition,
the characteristic peak C=O (COOH) of PAA disappears at 1714 cm− 1. In
Fig. 3a and Fig. S3a, new sharp peaks of PI reappear at 1776 cm− 1, 1720
cm− 1 and 1365 cm− 1, corresponding to the C=O asymmetric, C=O
telescopic and C-N vibration. These characteristic peaks indicate that
PAA is converted into PI after thermal imidization. After co-spinning the
β-CD, characteristic peaks in the primary, secondary and alcohols groups
from β-CD are also preserved in PI/CD (Fig. S3a) [45]. The direct evi­
dence for the Cu-MOF successful grafted onto PI-based fibers is reflected
in the following aspects. The main characteristic peaks of Cu-MOF
exactly match the FTIR spectrum of PI/CD-MOF, including the ampli­
fied FTIR spectrum of PI/CD-MOF at 1550–1300 cm− 1 band, the char­
acteristic peak at 1448 cm− 1 corresponding to the C-O stretching
vibration of Cu-MOF. The well-defined peak of PI/CD-MOF at 732 cm− 1
is stronger than that of PI/CD, which is attributed to Cu-O stretching
[35]. In Fig. 3b, the XRD pattern of PI/CD-MOF shows a high similarity
to that of PI, and PI/CD-MOF contains two similar characteristic crystal
phase peaks, corresponding to 11.6o and 19.1o respectively, which
proves the attachment of Cu-MOF on PI-based nanofibers. The EDS di­
agram also proves that the Cu elements uniformly enclose the surface of
PI/CD-MOF fibers in Fig. 4a.
The interaction between PI fibers and MOF is further elucidated by
W. Wei et al.
XPS, as is shown in Fig. 4b–d. Fig. S4a shows the full XPS spectra of PI/
CD and PI/CD-MOF. The O1s spectrum peak of PI/CD in Fig. 4b can be
distinguished into three peaks, of which 532.7 eV implies the C=O group
comes from PI. The peak centered at 531.9 eV corresponds C-O bond
originate from β-CD. The peak at 533.3 eV insinuates that C=O⋯H, may
be ascribed to form hydrogen bond between PAA (C=O) and β-CD (O-H),
which increases the density of the equilibrium electron cloud of oxygen
(C=O) and reduces the binding energy [4]. For Cu2p spectrum of
PI/CD-MOF (Fig. 4c), the peak at 938–946 eV indicates that the exis­
tence of bivalent Cu owning to the bivalent shock excitation effect. The
peak from Cu2p3/2 spectrum could be divided into two sub-peaks ac­
cording to Cu(II) oxide, centering at 934.8 eV to respond to the Cu-O
(COOH) bond, while the lower binding energy at 933.4 eV may be
allocated to the interaction between bivalent Cu and hydroxyl groups
[32,43]. N1s spectrum of PI/CD-MOF in Fig. 4d, there are three of type N
functional groups, including N-H (399.8 eV), H-N⋯H (401.7 eV) and
π-π* satellite. Among them, the N-H⋯H group with high binding energy
is considered as the hydrogen bond combination of PI (N-H) and
Cu-MOF (-OH).
And π-π* satellite is the unique peak of PI at 407 eV, which also
proves that Cu-MOF is well involved in PI/CD-based nanofiber. Com­
bined with FTIR spectrum (Fig. 3a), the characteristic peak redshift
phenomenon of O-H group (3300 cm− 1 nearby) further indicates the
growth mechanism of intermolecular hydrogen bond self-assembly,
which benefits from β-CD and MOF are rich in active groups [46].
3.2. Janus double-layer composite nanofibrous membranes for water
unidirectional penetration
Janus composite nanofibrous membrane was fabricated by original
PI and PI/CD-2-MOF bilayer with different interfacial wettability. The
schematic diagram of simulated water penetration is depicted in Fig. 5a.
The water contact angle (WCA) test of the bilayer membranes is
demonstrated in Fig. 5b and d. The WCA of the hydrophobic layer PI
membrane is 149.9 ± 0.12o. The loaded water droplet only slightly
changes by about 1o within 120 s, which is within the allowable error
range. In the dynamic WCA test of the PI/CD-2-MOF membrane, the
water droplet spreads and permeates within only 2 s after falling, and
Fig. 5. Janus double-layer composite nanofibrous membranes: (a) water unidirectional penetration simulation diagram; (b) water contact angel of PI membrane; (c)
optical photograph of water wettability, PI up, PI/CD-MOF down, (d) water contact angel of PI/CD-MOF membrane; and (e) optical photograph of water wettability,
PI/CD-MOF up, PI down.
6
Journal of Membrane Science 686 (2023) 121996
the final measured WCA is 4.5o. This indicates its superhydrophilicity,
which is mainly attributed to the hydrophilic groups (-OH, –COOH) on
the surface of β-CD and Cu-MOF. By means of the asymmetric water
wettability on both sides of the Janus composite membrane, the driving
force is triggered to allow water droplets to permeate through it. As
presented in Fig. 5c and e, in order to further explore the unidirectional
water penetration of Janus composite membrane, methyl-blue stained
water solution can be used to observe the water penetration process
more clearly. The two layers of membranes were tightly stacked
together beforehand. When 0.2 mL of water came into contact with the
PI layer, the spherical water droplet slowly diffused from the initial PI
side and then rapidly penetrated into the PI/CD-2-MOF layer (Fig. 5a).
Nevertheless, water droplets cannot pass through the Janus membrane
in the opposite direction, as shown in Fig. 5e, where the PI membrane is
not contaminated by the methyl-blue stained water. Accordingly, this is
consistent with the reported phenomenon of Janus membrane unidi­
rectional water permeation. It is generally believed that the principle is
mainly attributed to the gravity, the Laplace pressure difference (ΔP) of
water droplet and hydraulic pressure force between hydrophilic and
hydrophobic layers [47,48].
Water droplets in the hydrophobic layer spontaneously build larger
ΔP due to high WCA values helping water droplets pass through. Upon
contact with the superhydrophilic PI/CD-2-MOF layer, the water drop­
lets penetrate rapidly, thereby achieving spontaneous unidirectional
infiltration from the hydrophobic layer to the hydrophilic layer [49]. On
the contrary, when water droplet contacts the superhydrophilic layer,
the strong wetting causes the water droplet to collapse into a film
immediately, making it difficult to form a ΔP driving force that prevents
it from passing through the hydrophobic layer. Therefore, the above
results demonstrate that the Janus nanofibrous membrane possesses
unique water droplet transport capacity, which has broad application
prospects in the development of protective masks and wearable fabrics.
It can reduce the discomfort caused by exhaled water vapor or sweat
sticking to the skin during use, especially in high temperature and hu­
midity environments [50].
W. Wei et al. Journal of Membrane Science 686 (2023) 121996

3.3. BET analyses and CO2 adsorption of modified PI-based filter Table 1
membranes The specific surface area, pore volume of all PI-based filter membranes.
Sample Surface area Total pore volume Average pore diameter
The N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms and pore diameter distri­ (m2/g) (cm3/g) (nm)
butions of PI, PI/CD, PI-MOF and PI/CD-MOF membranes are depicted PI 4.042 0.015 3.390
in Fig. 6a–c. The isotherms of PI and PI/CD follows type-III behavior PI/CD-2 5.018 0.021 3.798
(IUPAC classification), characterized by increasing slowly with the PI-MOF 19.080 0.043 3.8
relative pressure, which means that adsorption capacity toward nitrogen PI/CD-2- 84.124 0.079 3.809
MOF
remains relatively weak. Nevertheless, at low relative pressure (p/
p0<0.01), PI-MOF and PI-CD-MOF isotherms sharply rise in the direc­
tion perpendicular to the X-axis at the beginning. Then, ahysteresis loops β-CD, which provides strong support for the assembly of Cu-MOF, which
appear, presenting typical type-IVisotherms, indicating that these is favorable for the adsorption of PI/CD-MOF. Compared with other
membranes contain plentiful pore structures dominated by micro- related membranes (PI, PI/CD, PI-MOF), the specific surface area and
medium pores [12,51]. This is recognized as the result of the fine micro-mesoporous ratio of PI/CD-MOF are significantly improved,
combination pattern of Cu-MOF and nanofibers. Meanwhile, it can also which increases the capture probability of small particles and is also
be deduced that PI/CD-MOF has the strongest nitrogen adsorption ca­ conducive to the adsorption of gas. The BET specific surface area of PI/
pacity, which is almost twice as strong as PI-MOF. The specific surface CD-MOF membrane is up to 84.124 m2/g, which is 20 times than pure PI
area and pore volume of all PI-based membranes are listed in Table 1. membrane (4.042 m2/g).
The pore distributions of the PI-based membranes measured by BET- In order to better study the selective gas adsorption performance of
BJH calculation method is shown in Fig. 6b. The pores of PI-MOF and PI/ PI/CD-MOF, the CO2 adsorption isotherm of PI, PI/CD and PI-MOF are
CD-MOF are concentrated in the mesoporous region (3–5 nm), which are further compared and analyzed in Fig. 6d. It is obvious that the
typical mesoporous-dominated materials. In contrast, the mesoporous adsorption capacity of all samples for CO2 increases with the gradual
and macroporous dispersion ratios of PI and PI/CD tend to be consistent. increase of relative pressure at room temperature, which is a typical
Fig. 6c shows that the micropore distributions of the PI-based mem­ physical adsorption process. In general, the mechanism of CO2 physical
branes are analyzed by HK calculation method. Apparently, PI/CD and adsorption mainly comes from the porosity and the interaction between
PI have virtually no micropore, while PI/CD-MOF has more and nar­ CO2 and the adsorbent. The intricate micropore structure inside Cu-MOF
rower micropores than PI-MOF, concentrated at approximately 0.6 nm, helps to increase the contact area with CO2 adsorption. It can be seen
attributed to Cu-MOF. This indirectly explains the significant difference that all PI based membranes loaded with Cu-MOF achieve higher CO2
in mesoporous adsorption capacity between PI/CD-MOF and PI-MOF in adsorption capacity than PI and PI/CD. However, excessive Cu-MOF
Fig. 6b. The porosity of the integral membrane is indirectly affected by loading on the fiber surface not only increases the pressure drop of the

Fig. 6. (a) N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, (b) pore diameter distributions, (c) micropore diameter distributions and (d) CO2 adsorption isotherms of relevant
membranes (PI, PI/CD, PI-MOF, PI/CD-MOF).

7
W. Wei et al. Journal of Membrane Science 686 (2023) 121996

filtration membrane, but also requires a focus on considering its impact diameter reduction trend becomes increasingly apparent (Fig. S2).
on the diffusion of CO2 gas molecules. Fortunately, the natural meso­ Meanwhile, β-CD provides more feasibility for the assembly of Cu-MOF
porous structure of PI/CD-MOF membranes can help CO2 molecules on the surface of PI fibers. A large number of randomly-distribute
break free from the constraints of microporous van der Waals forces and Cu-MOF enrich the pores and increase the probability of collisions be­
provide necessary channels for diffusion [52]. The CO2 adsorption vol­ tween fibers and fine PMs. Wherein, the PM0.3 filtration efficiency of
ume of PI/CD-MOF membrane is 14.2002 cm3/g, which is approxi­ PI/CD-1-MOF, PI/CD-2-MOF and PI/CD-3-MOF exceeds 90%, corre­
mately 3.5 times higher than PI membrane. It is because Cu-MOF could sponding to the relatively-moderate pressure drop (below 180 Pa)
create rich micropores, in conjunction with suitable mesopores that the (Fig. S6). These results confirm the creation of porous structures on
pore volume of PI/CD-MOF increases from 0.0477 cm3/g to 0.0795 smooth fiber surfaces as a positive strategy for addressing the issue of
cm3/g compared to PI-MOF. balancing filtration efficiency and pressure drop. By adjusting the
electrospinning parameters and soaking time of the PI/CD-2 membrane
in Cu2+ and BTC ethanol solution, it is determined that the filtration
3.4. Air filtration performance of modified PI-based filter membranes
performance of the PI/CD-2-MOF obtained by soaking for 30 min is the
best. The filtration efficiency, pressure drop, and QF for PM0.3 of PI/CD-2
The construction of porous fiber networks also plays a key role in
membrane after different treatment times are shown in Fig. 7d–e. The
balancing the relationship between filtration efficiency and pressure
optimal filtration efficiency of PI/CD-2-MOF for PM0.3 can reach
drop. Based on previous results, Cu-MOF are well interspersed across the
99.85%, meanwhile the pressure drop and QF are 136 Pa and 0.0478
fiber surface, creating a hierarchical porous structure that balanced the
Pa-1, respectively. Although the large pores among PI/CD-2-MOF fibers
filtration efficiency and pressure drop. Considering the purpose of
are fist filled due to the dispersion of Cu-MOF, the widened layer spacing
practical application, the air flow velocity of 32 L/min is used as a
compensates for the high pressure drop of PI-MOF. As shown in
uniform parameter to measure the filtration performance of the air filter.
Figs. S6c–d, with the increase of air flow rate, the higher the pressure
The filtration efficiency and QF of PI, PI/CD-2, PI-MOF and PI/CD-2-MOF
drop of PI/CD-2-MOF membrane, the lower the quality factor, which
filtration membranes for PMs with different particle sizes are studied in
conforms to Darcy’s law. Theoretically, the content of β-CD increases
Fig. 7a–b. The filtration efficiency of the four membranes for PMs is
from 1 to 3 wt%, which multiplies accompany the grafting amount of
higher than 2.5 μm, which exceeds 99.9%. However, the interception of
Cu-MOF, thereby promoting the improvement of filtration performance.
PM0.3 by pure PI is obviously insufficient (89.27%). Filtering schematics
Nevertheless, the QF of PI/CD-3-MOF for PM0.3 is 0.0237 Pa-1, which is
of PI and PI/CD-MOF membranes are unveiled in Fig. 7c. The filtration
lower than that of PI/CD-2-MOF. This is because the average diameter of
mechanism of nanofibrous membrane for PMs mainly depends on the
PI/CD-3 fibers is only 230 ± 20 nm, and their distribution is uniform,
physical sieving effect among fiber layers. Unmodified PI fibers with a
which is not conducive to the growth of Cu-MOF crystals with a particle
large pore size easily cause low removal efficiency due to the escape of
diameter of 180 ± 20 nm (Fig. S2c-c’’).
small particles along with the airflow. As is expected, after grafting a few
The stability of high temperature filtration is an important index to
Cu-MOF, rough surface is constructed successfully, and the filtration
measure the filtration performance of PI-based filters. In order to ensure
efficiency for PM0.3 of PI-MOF is greatly improved to 99.32%, but the
a constant high temperature during the test, the metal mesh as the
pressure drop also increases correspondingly (from 107 Pa to 155 Pa)
substrate of the PI/CD-MOF filter membrane is heated and tested
due to the preferential filling of macropores which hinders air circula­
together with the filter membrane. As shown in Fig. 8a, the high tem­
tion, resulting in a low QF (0.0322 Pa-1). Furthermore, a prerequisite for
perature filtration performance of filter membrane was measured after
achieving good filtration performance should also be appropriately
heating at high temperature (100 oC, 200 oC, 300 oC) for 2 h. Compared
refining fibers to enhance slip effect between aerosols and fibers [53,
with 25 oC, the filtration efficiency of PI/CD-MOF filter is slightly
54]. Interestingly, with participation of β-CD, the fiber diameter is
reduced at high temperatures, and can still be maintained at more than
effectively reduced, and as the β-CD content increases (1–3 wt%), its

Fig. 7. (a) Filtration efficiency with different PM particle sizes, (b) pressure drop and QF for PM0.3 of relevant membranes (PI, PI/CD, PI-MOF and PI/CD-2-MOF). (c)
Schematic illustration of filtering for PI and PI/CD-MOF filter. (d) Filtration efficiency, (e) pressure drop and QF for PM0.3 of PI/CD-2 membrane after immersion
treatment for different times. (f) Filtration performance of Janus double-layer filter after multiple recycling.

8
W. Wei et al. Journal of Membrane Science 686 (2023) 121996

Fig. 8. (a) PM0.3 Filtration efficiency of PI/CD-MOF membrane at different temperatures. (b) Comparison of QF and filtration efficiency of different nanofiber
membranes. (c, d) SEM of the PI/CD-MOF fiber membrane after filtration and illustration is a digital image of the membrane filtration device.

99.5% at 300 oC. As the pressure drop also slightly decreases at high
temperature, the QF basically remains constant, indicating that the filter
has excellent high temperature filtration performance and stability.
Fig. 8c shows the PM filtration process of the membrane, where the
ignited aromatherapy serves as the PM source. The SEM after PM
filtration (Fig. 8c–d) shows that PMs are mainly wrapped in the part of
MOF loaded, and the rough structure of PI/CD-MOF fiber provides more
attachment points for PMs. By comparing with other filtration materials,
our work has more outstanding filtration efficiency in high temperature
environments. We also assembled a Janus double-layer composite filter
membrane and continuously conducted 30 cycle filtration tests on it, as
is shown in Fig. 7f. It is found that the filtration efficiency of PM0.3 could
reach 99.92% and remain basically stable, fully indicating that the Janus
membrane has a good filtration stability. Compared with PI/CD-MOF,
the pressure drop increases 25 ± 5 Pa, which is caused by pore
blockage resulting from the interception of PMs. In conclusion, it can be

Fig. 9. (a) TGA and (b) DTG curves of relevant membranes. (c) Stress-strain curves relevant membranes. Flame retardant test of (d) PI/CD-MOF and (e)
PI membranes.

9
W. Wei et al.
expected that PI/CD-MOF fiber membrane can be incorporated with the
unique properties of Janus nanofibrous membranes, becoming a prom­
ising multifunctional filtration material.
3.5. Thermal stability and mechanical properties of modified PI-based
filter membranes
To evaluate the thermal stability effects of Cu-MOF and β-CD in PI
nanofibers, TGA and DTG diagram of PI, PI-MOF and PI/CD-MOF are
shown in Fig. 9a–b. It can be observed from the TGA curve that the
thermal decomposition temperature of PI nanofibrous membrane is 600
o
C, and that the residual rate is 43% at 800 oC, which exhibit its excellent
thermal stability. PI and PI-MOF nanofibers have the same low-intensity
broad peak at 203 oC and 226 oC respectively, suggesting the decom­
position of DMAC solvent. Subsequently, in the DTG curve of PI-MOF
(blue circles in Fig. 9b), the second weight-loss occurred at a sharp
peak at 317 oC and a small peak at 350 oC nearby, which demonstrated
the removal of water and small organic molecules of Cu-MOF from the
framework [55]. Interestingly, the residual rate of PI/CD-MOF (43.4%)
is higher than that of PI-MOF (40.7%), which is because β-CD is affili­
ated with PAA molecular chain via hydrogen bonding, hindering the
subsequent imidization process, and amide bonds are more stable than
imide bonds, thus PI/CD-MOF has higher thermal stability. PI-MOF and
PI/CD-MOF membranes show a similar weight-plummeted peak at 593
o
C, which are derived from the breakdown of PI molecules and the
collapse of the Cu-BTC MOF skeleton.
The stress-strain relationship between different PI-based membranes
is shown in Fig. 9c. Based on the hydrogen bond configuration inside the
fiber, the PI/CD-based membrane could be stretched more than 10%,
which is close to 2.4 times that of pure PI [56–58]. However, as the
diameter of the fiber decreases, its tensile strength also decreases. The
maximum ductility of PI/CD-MOF is dependent on the connectivity of
fiber nodes, making it conducive to maintaining structural stability.
Flame burning tests are directly observed in Fig. 9d–e to evaluate the
flame retardancy of PI and PI/CD-MOF membranes. PI/CD-MOF mem­
brane has no flame retardancy, which are immediately burned off once
ignited. Thermal decomposition temperature of Cu-MOF is 352 oC
(Fig. S7). When the PI/CD-MOF membrane is close to the flame, the
external flame temperature of the alcohol burner can reach more than
400 oC and fluctuate violently which is exceed the thermal decomposi­
tion temperature of the PI/CD-MOF membrane, resulting in the burning
of the PI/CD-MOF membrane. PI membrane shows a small-area
shrinkage after ignition and self-extinguishing in less than 0.5 s [59,
60]. It shows a very high size stability and flame retardancy, which is
attributed to the intrinsic strong molecular structure of PI [61]. Due to
the introduction of diamine monomers (4, 4’-DABA) containing amide
bonds into PI backbone not only improves the linear rigidity of molec­
ular chain, but also produces nitrogen oxides during combustion pro­
cess, preventing further combustion [62]. At the same time, neither of
them shows smoke or pungent odor. It is foreseeable that the PI layer of
Janus double-layer membrane can serve as a flame retardant protective
layer for protective masks to prevent the spread of flames when a fire
occurs. Especially, there is a positive reference in actual studies on
fire-protective clothing and protective masks to provide excellent ther­
mal protection.
4. Conclusions
In summary, we prepared a PI/CD-MOF nanofiber filter membrane
with a ‘‘core-shell’’ structure via co-electrospinning. β-CD was
embedded into PI fibers, and Cu-MOF crystals were assembled on the
fiber surface by the strong hydrogen bonding force. The results indicate
that β-CD with a reasonable concentration can be used to effectively
regulate the self-assembly behavior of Cu-MOF crystals. The resultant
PI/CD-MOF filtration membrane features an excellent thermal stability,
a high specific surface area (84.124 m2/g) and rich pore structure, which
10
Journal of Membrane Science 686 (2023) 121996
have significant advantages in filtering fine aerosol particles and
adsorbing CO2 gas. The filter possesses an excellent filtration efficiency
(99.85%) and a relatively-low pressure drop (136 Pa) for PM0.3 at the
gas velocity of 32 L/min. The CO2 adsorption volume of PI/CD-MOF is
14.2002 cm3/g, which is 3.5 times higher than that of PI membrane. In
addition, based on the asymmetric water wetting driving mechanism,
we also assembled a double-layer composite nanofibrous membrane to
achieve unidirectional water penetration. Overall, our strategy has
certain guiding significance for the research on fiber membrane mate­
rials for multifunctional new high-temperature air filters.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Wenhui Wei: Investigation, Methodology, Experiments, Data anal­
ysis, Writing-original draft. Yuanyuan Tao: Investigation, Provide
equipment, Data analysis. Tianxue Feng: Performed experiments, Data
analysis. Yitian Wu: Performed experiments, Validation. Dongwei Li:
Validation, Writing – review & editing, Provide equipment. Guanchen
Xu: Investigation, Supervision. Linjie Li: Performed experiments,
Investigation. Jie Pang: Performed experiments, Data analysis. Xiu
Liang: Supervision, Writing – review & editing. Meng Gao: Validation,
Writing – review & editing. Xingshuang Zhang: Methodology, Investi­
gation, Project administration, Funding and resources acquisition,
Writing – review & editing.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation
of China (Nos: 51808328, 61903235 and 22005160), the Natural Sci­
ence Foundation of Shandong Province (No: ZR2023ME188), the Major
Scientific and Technological Innovation Project of Shandong (Nos.:
2019JZZY020309 and 2020CXGC010309), the Science, Production,
Education and Research projects of Qilu University of Technology
(Shandong Academy of Sciences) (2023PY055, 2020-CXY36).
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.memsci.2023.121996.
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