Abstract
Silver nanoparticle-modified graphene oxide (Ag/GO) was reliably prepared by using sodium borohydride (NaBH4) in the presence of citric acid capping agent via a simple wet chemistry method. This rapidly formed Ag/GO composite exhibited good dispersity in a solution containing hydrophilic polyacrylonitrile (PAN). Subsequent electrospinning of this precursor solution resulted in the successful formation of nanofibers without any notable defects. The Ag/GO-incorporated PAN nanofibers showed thinner fiber strands (544 ± 82 nm) compared to those of GO-PAN (688 ± 177 nm) and bare-PAN (656 ± 59 nm). Subsequent thermal treatment of nanofibers resulted in the preparation of thin membranes to possess the desired pore property and outstanding wettability. The Ag/GO-PAN nanofiber membrane also showed 30% higher water flux value (390 LMH) than that of bare-PAN (300 LMH) for possible microfiltration (MF) application. In addition, the resulting Ag/GO-PAN nanofiber membrane exhibited antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive). Furthermore, this composite membrane exhibited outstanding anti-fouling property compared to the GO-PAN nanofiber membrane in the wastewater treatment. Therefore, the simple modification strategy allows for the effective formation of Ag/GO composite as a filler that can be reliably incorporated into polymer nanofiber membranes to possess improved overall properties for wastewater treatment applications.
Highlights
Since the development of electrospun nanofibers, their potential applications have been expanded into various areas of research, such as biomedicine, energy, and environmental science [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
The simple modification strategy allows for the effective formation of Ag/Graphene oxide (GO) composite as a filler that can be reliably incorporated into polymer nanofiber membranes to possess improved overall properties for wastewater treatment applications
A membrane designed from the resulting electrospun nanofibers can exhibit various features, including large specific surface area, high porosity, tunable pore size, and high permeability, which can ideally serve as a promising candidate as membrane-based filters for water treatment applications [10,11,12]
Summary
Since the development of electrospun nanofibers, their potential applications have been expanded into various areas of research, such as biomedicine, energy, and environmental science [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. A membrane designed from the resulting electrospun nanofibers can exhibit various features, including large specific surface area, high porosity, tunable pore size, and high permeability, which can ideally serve as a promising candidate as membrane-based filters for water treatment applications [10,11,12]. The current wastewater treatments are typically required for the combination of the membrane-based filtration and disinfection process (e.g., UV, ozone, chlorination, etc.) to remove pathogenic microorganisms and common foultants (e.g., sludge particles, colloids, proteins, oils, etc.) [22,23,24]. Numerous hydrophilic functional groups, including edge and side chains of GO, can greatly improve the wettability and permeability of water during filtration These hydrophilic oxygen groups can act as reactive oxygen species (ROS) to exhibit anti-bacterial property [31,32]. Subsequent electrospinning was reliably accomplished to prepare composite membranes which were comprehensively evaluated to understand how the loading of different GO-based fillers into nanofiber membranes impacts membrane performance (e.g., wettability, permeability, antifouling efficiency, etc.)
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