Ultrathin nanofibrous films prepared from cadmium hydroxide nanostrands and anionic surfactants

We developed a simple fabrication method of ultrathin nanofibrous films from the dispersion of cadmium hydroxide nanostrands and anionic surfactants. The nanostrands were prepared in a dilute aqueous solution of cadmium chloride by using 2-aminoethanol. They were highly positively charged and gave bundlelike fibers upon mixing an aqueous solution of anionic surfactant. The nanostrand/surfactant composite fibers were filtered on an inorganic membrane filter. The resultant nanofibrous film was very uniform in the area of a few centimeters square when the thickness was not less than 60 nm. The films obtained with sodium tetradecyl sulfate (STS) had a composition close to the electroneutral complex, [Cd37(OH)68(H2O)n] x 6(STS), as confirmed by energy dispersive X-ray analysis. They were water-repellent with a contact angle of 117 degrees, and the value slightly decreased with the alkyl chain length of anionic surfactants. Ultrathin nanofibrous films were stable enough to be used for ultrafiltration at pressure difference of 90 kPa. We could effectively separate Au nanoparticles of 40 nm at an extremely high filtration rate of 14000 L/(h m2 bar).