Cyrene-Enabled Green Electrospinning of Nanofibrous Graphene-Based Membranes for Water Desalination via Membrane Distillation

igh-performance and sustainable membranes forwater desalination applications are crucial to address the growingglobal demand for clean water. Concurrently, electrospinning hasemerged as a versatile manufacturing method for fabricatingnanofibrous membranes for membrane distillation. However,widespread adoption of electrospinning for processing water−insoluble polymers, such as fluoropolymers, is hindered by thereliance on hazardous organic solvents during production.Moreover, restrictions on industrial solvents are tightening asenvironmental regulations demand greener alternatives. Thiscritical challenge is addressed here by demonstrating, for the firsttime, the fabrication of nanofibrous electrospun membranes of PVDF-HFP, poly(vinylidene fluoride)-co-hexafluoropropylene usinga renewable, environment- and user-friendly solvent system containing Cyrene (dihydrolevoglucosenone), dimethyl sulfoxide, anddimethyl carbonate. The same solvent system was further used to produce nanocomposite graphene oxide (GO) and graphenenanoplatelet (GNP)-containing nanofibrous electrospun membranes. When tested for water desalination via membrane distillation,these membranes either outperformed or matched the performance of those produced with hazardous organic solvents, achievingsalt rejection rates of >99.84% and long-term stability. The economic viability of the green solvent system was further validatedthrough Monte Carlo simulations. This work demonstrates the potential to move fluoropolymer electrospinning fromdimethylformamide-based systems to greener alternatives, enabling the consistent production of high-quality nanofibrousmembranes. These findings pave the way for more sustainable manufacturing practices in membrane technology, specifically forwater desalination via membrane distillation