{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T00:29:43Z","timestamp":1790036983560,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,3,11]],"date-time":"2017-03-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1489190400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003725","name":"National Research Foundation of Korea","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2016R1D1A1B03931616"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2016R1D1A1B03931616"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003725","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nanomaterials"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a source of air pollution and are harmful to both human health and the environment. In this study, we fabricated polyurethane\/rare earth (PU\/RE) composite nanofibrous membranes via electrospinning with the aim of removing VOCs from air. The morphological structure of PU\/RE nanofibrous mats was investigated using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) experimental analyses. A certain amount of RE (up to 50 wt. % compared to PU pellets) nanoparticles (NPs) could be loaded on\/into PU fibers. The tensile strength of PU\/RE nanofibrous membranes decreased slightly with the increasing RE powder content. The PU nanofiber containing 50 wt. % RE powder had the smallest fiber diameter of 356 nm; it also showed the highest VOC absorption capacity compared with other composite membranes, having an absorption capacity about three times greater than pure PU nanofibers. In addition, all of the PU\/RE nanofibrous membranes readily absorbed styrene the most, followed by xylene, toluene, benzene and chloroform. Therefore, the PU\/RE nanofibrous membrane can play an important role in removing VOCs from the air, and its development prospects are impressive because they are emerging materials.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nano7030060","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,3,13]],"date-time":"2017-03-13T10:26:18Z","timestamp":1489400778000},"page":"60","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":48,"title":["Fabrication of Functional Polyurethane\/Rare Earth Nanocomposite Membranes by Electrospinning and Its VOCs Absorption Capacity from Air"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Jun","family":"Ge","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Mechanical Design Engineering, Chonbuk National University, 567 Baekje-daero, Jeonjusi 561-756, Jeollabuk-do, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5607-7224","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nag","family":"Choi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Mechanical Design Engineering, Chonbuk National University, 567 Baekje-daero, Jeonjusi 561-756, Jeollabuk-do, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,3,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"490","DOI":"10.1016\/j.measurement.2005.12.014","article-title":"Development of a novel hand-held toluene gas sensor: Possible use in the prevention and control of sick building syndrome","volume":"39","author":"Kawamura","year":"2006","journal-title":"Measurement"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15119","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ceramint.2016.06.145","article-title":"Detection of hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by metal oxide nanostructures-based gas sensors: A review","volume":"42","author":"Mirzaei","year":"2016","journal-title":"Ceram. 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