LAUSR

Abstract Electrospun PVA (polyvinyl alcohol)-LiCl composite membranes were prepared as novel solid desiccants. Experimental results show that nanofibrous membranes (NFMs) exhibit notable advantages in sorption capacity, sorption rate and low-temperature desorption rate, as compared with the solution-cast PVA-LiCl membranes (SCMs). The PVA NFM with 15 wt% LiCl can sorb 1.04 g g −1 water at 25 °C and 90% relative humidity (RH), which is more than twice of the reported capacity of silica gel. Due to the nano-structure and small diffusion distance, the desiccant membranes have fast sorption and desorption rates. The desorption isobars show that about 90% of the sorbed moisture can be removed at temperatures between 40 °C and 60 °C, which makes it promising to utilize solar energy or exhaust heat for air dehumidification. The composite desiccant membranes can also be recycled without the degradation of sorption and desorption performance.