Posted by Membranes with simultaneous selective adsorption functionality and excellent photocatalytic response have been proposed for water remediation, especially for treating textile and industrial wastewater. However, state-of-the-art membranes are easily fouled by pollutant adsorption that impacts their reusability. Here we report the development of a crosslinked electrospun poly-cyclodextrin (Poly-CD) nanofiber (NF) membrane coated by atomic layer deposition (ALD) with ZnO nanograins for the removal of pollutants from wastewater. The inherent high affinity of poly-CD NFs favored the selective adsorption of cationic impurities, and the reactive oxygen species produced by photoirradiation of the ZnO surface effectively degraded adsorbed contaminants. The NFMs has signifies that, even under the dark, they have a removal efficiency of around 80% which may be due to the high adsorption nature. Further, these NFM are highly reusable while decorating the ZnO nanograins on the NFM, which degraded the adsorbed pollutant and opened up the active site to further adsorb the dye molecule on the poly-CD surface.
Kugalur Shanmugam Ranjith, Zehra Irem Yildiz, Mohammad Aref Khalily, Yun Suk Huh, Young-Kyu Han, Tamer Uyar 82023) Membrane-based electrospun poly-cyclodextrin nanofibers coated with ZnO nanograins by ALD: Ultrafiltration blended photocatalysis for degradation of organic micropollutants.
Journal of Membrane Science 686, 122002.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2023.122002