Abstract
Electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber membrane was functionalized with chitosan and proteins for use in the treatment of dye-containing wastewater. The PAN nanofiber membrane was subjected to alkaline hydrolysis, before being grafted with chitosan and subsequently the proteins from chicken egg white. The resultant nanofiber membrane (P-COOH-CS-CEW) was comprehensively characterized using thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The efficiency of P-COOH-CS-CEW in removing cationic dye toluidine blue O (TBO) and anionic dye acid orange 7 (AO7) in aqueous solution was evaluated. Based on the performance of model fitting, Langmuir and pseudo-second-order kinetic model could be used to describe the performance of P-COOH-CS-CEW in the removal of TBO (pH 10) and AO7 (pH 2) from the dye solutions. The adsorbed TBO and AO7 dyes can be completely desorbed by an elution solution made of 50% (v/v) ethanol and 1 M sodium chloride. After five consecutive adsorption-desorption cycles, the efficiency of dye removal by P-COOH-CS-CEW was maintained above 97%.
Highlights
The dye-contaminated wastewater produced from textile, papermaking, printing, and related industries can cause significant environmental issues [1,2]
This study demonstrates the excellent capability of protein-immobilized nanofiber membranes for adsorbing dyes from the simulated wastewater
The binding between dye and P-COOH-CS-Chicken egg white (CEW) nanofiber membrane was mainly driven by the electrostatic forces
Summary
The dye-contaminated wastewater produced from textile, papermaking, printing, and related industries can cause significant environmental issues [1,2]. Removing the dyes using traditional treatment of wastewater can be challenging [3]. The conventional methods used in the dye removal process include biological treatment, coagulation/flocculation, ozone treatment, chemical oxidation, membrane filtration, photocatalytic degradation, and adsorption [4,5,6,7,8,9]. These methods are energy-demanding and involve multiple operations, thereby limiting their wide adoption in industrial applications [2]. Cotton waste, chitin, chitosan, peat, microorganisms (fungus and yeasts), maize cob [16], hazelnut shell, saw dust (derived from walnut, cherry, oak, pitch pine, and pine), cane pitch [17], soy meal hull, banana pitch, Brazilian pine-fruit shell [18,19], and rice husk [20], aqai stalks [21] have all been widely used as adsorbent for dye removal
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