Preparation of Functionalized Ethylene-Vinyl-Alcohol Nanofibrous Membrane Filter for Rapid and Cyclic Removing of...

A functionalized ethylene-vinyl-alcohol (EVOH) nanofibrous membrane (NFM) was fabricated via co-electrospinning H₄SiW₁₂O₄₀ (SiW₁₂) and EVOH first, and then grafting citric acid (CCA) on the electrospun SiW₁₂@EVOH NFM. Characterization with FT-IR, EDX, and XPS confirmed that CCA was introduced to the surface of SiW₁₂@EVOH NFM and the Keggin structure of SiW₁₂ was maintained well in the composite fibers. Due to a number of carboxyl groups introduced by CCA, the as-prepared SiW₁₂@EVOH-CCA NFM can form a high number of hydrogen bonds with CR, and thus can be used to selectively absorb congo red (CR) in aqueous solutions. More importantly, the CR enriched in the NFM can be rapidly degraded via photocatalysis. SiW₁₂ in the NFM acted as a photocatalyst, and the hydroxyl groups in the NFM acted as an electron donor to accelerate the photodegradation rate of CR. Meanwhile, the SiW₁₂@EVOH-CCA NFM was regenerated and then exhibited a relatively stable adsorption capacity in five cycles of filtration-regeneration. The bifunctional nanofibrous membrane filter showed potential for use in the thorough purification of dye wastewater.