Abstract
In the last decade, pathogenic bacteria and organic micropollutants have become a major issue in the water purification process. Heterogeneous photocatalysis is a low-cost and an ecofriendly process, which provides a sustainable solution for water treatment and its utilization in rural areas. In this context, we studied the generation and the surface engineering of polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/goethite composite nanofibers for photocatalytic water remediation under visible-light illumination. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated for dye (methylene blue) degradation and bacteria inactivation, as contaminant models, of the composite nanofibers. The PAN/goethite nanofibers were elaborated by an electrospinning technique, and the morphology and the composition, before and after spin coating, were investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX). The results showed partially intercalated structures of the PAN/goethite Composite-nano-fiber (CNF) were identified by SEM and EDX analysis. The composite nanofibers exhibited high photoefficiency upon dye bleaching (only 10% left after 5 h of illumination) and bacterial deactivation Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens (4.4- and 3.5-fold, respectively, in less than 5 h). The steadiness and pliancy of the generated nanofibers provide a promising application in the continuous flow system.
Highlights
Access to safe drinking water is an essential priority to maintain the health and quality of life
After morphological and structural characterization of the biobased nanocomposite, we evaluated its photocatalytic activity for methylene blue degradation and inactivation of Escherichia coli and spores of clostridium perfringens under visible light illumination
The photoreactor containing the photocatalyst and the Methylene blue (MB) dye was placed at 6 cm vertical distance from a Philips lighting 36 W T8 fluorescent tube (270.8 kLux), which was used as the visible light source
Summary
Access to safe drinking water is an essential priority to maintain the health and quality of life. Compared to many conventional materials such as TiO2, ZnO, etc., α-Fe2O3 has an advantage in the photocatalytic process especially under solar energy due to its lower bandgap ~2.2 eV value This advantage is related to iron oxide capacity to absorb a large portion of the visible solar spectrum (absorbance edge ~600 nm). It is considered a promising material for photocatalytic water treatment due to its good chemical stability in an aqueous medium, low cost, abundance, and non-toxic nature. After morphological and structural characterization of the biobased nanocomposite, we evaluated its photocatalytic activity for methylene blue degradation and inactivation of Escherichia coli and spores of clostridium perfringens (viability of vegetative cells) under visible light illumination
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