Highly Efficient Visible Light Photodegradation of Cr(VI) Using Electrospun MWCNTs-Fe3O4@PES Nanofibers

Abstract

The development of highly efficient photocatalysis has been prepared by two different methods for the photodegradation of Cr(VI) from an aqueous solution under visible light. The electrospun polyethersulfone (PES)/iron oxide (Fe3O4) and multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) composite nanofibers have been prepared using the electrospinning technique. The prepared materials were characterized by SEM and XRD analysis. The result reveals the successful fabrication of the composite nanofiber with uniformly and smooth nanofibers. The effect of numerous parameters were explored to investigate the effects of pH value, contact time, concentration of Cr(VI), and reusability. The MWCNTs-Fe3O4@PES composite nanofibers exhibited excellent photodegradation of Cr(VI) at pH 2 in 80 min. The photocatalysis materials are highly stable without significant reduction of the photocatalytic efficiency of Cr(VI) after five cycles. Therefore, due to its easy separation and reuse without loss of photocatalytic efficiency, the photocatalysis membrane has tremendous potential for the removal of heavy metals from aqueous solutions.

Emerging trends in membrane-based wastewater treatment: electrospun nanofibers and reticular porous adsorbents as key components

“…Similarly, Mohamed et al used electrospinning to construct polyethersulfone (PES)/iron oxide (Fe 3 O 4 ) and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) composite nanofibers. 133 Yazdi et al used electrospinning to deposit magnetite-Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles modified with 3-mercaptopropionic acid onto amidoximated polyacrylonitrile (APAN) nanofibers, which were then crosslinked to remove organic compounds and colors from aqueous solutions. 134…”

“…132 The composite ENM had a remarkable maximum adsorption capacity of 454.5 and 476.2 mg g −1 for Cd 2+ ) and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) composite nanofibers. 133 Yazdi et al used electrospinning to deposit magnetite-Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles modified with 3-mercaptopropionic acid onto amidoximated polyacrylonitrile (APAN) nanofibers, which were then crosslinked to remove organic compounds and colors from aqueous solutions. 134 Fabrication of co-axial and hollow ENMs.…”

Progress of polyethersulfone composites and their applications in biomedical engineering

“…As a result, more waste organics were adsorbed and degraded in the composite nanofiber, hence achieving higher removal efficiency. Moreover, there are abundant literature reports referring to metal oxide nanoparticles/PES composite nanofibers including TiO 2 , 92,93 MgO, 94,95 Fe 3 O 4 [96][97][98] and CuO, 99 etc., which are not further elaborated here. Also, from many studies on MOFs/PES composite nanofibers, we select two representative structures for comparison.…”

Synthesis and Applications of TiO2‐based Nanostructures as Photocatalytic Materials

“…The heterogeneous photocatalytic reaction is composed of a series of complex surface chemical and physical processes, which may be affected by factors such as the properties of the photocatalyst, [9][10] light intensity, [11][12][13] solution pH, [14][15] reaction temperature, [16][17][18][19][20] surface hydroxyl group, [21][22][23] and organic matter concentration. [24][25][26][27] Photocatalyst is one of the most critical factors affecting the rate of the oxidation reaction.…”