From the environmental and end-users' viewpoints, electrospun ion exchange fibres provide highly efficient and sustainable material for separation of for example trace pollutants, such as radionuclides and heavy metals. This work aimed to reduce the amount of ion exchange material needed per unit volume of raw material subjected to an ion exchange process. We present a very simple process to electrospinning of sodium titanate fibres, but also test results of ion exchange kinetics measurements. Sodium titanate fibres are very promising material and it is possible that by exploiting electrospun inorganic sub-micron fibres the ion exchanger mass required for a given capacity can be decreased significantly.
Keywords: Inorganic ion exchange; electrospinning; ion exchange; sodium titanate; water purification.