Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks/polyacrylonitile composites for oil sorption and antibacterial applications

Abstract

Fabricated nanocomposites from polymers that have unique properties, including suitable porosity, flexibility, and biocompatibility are considered promising compounds for industrial (catalysis, sorption, and sensing) and biological (tissue engineering, drug delivery, and wound healing) applications. The new sponges of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and the Zn(II) zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIF-8), with different mass ratios, PAN/x%ZIF-8 (x = 10, 30, 50), were fabricated using the sugar template method. The as-fabricated composites were characterized via FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared), PXRD (powder X-ray diffraction), SEM (scanning electron microscope), and EDS (energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) mapping. The FT-IR and PXRD results proved that the ZIF-8 nanoparticles were successfully incorporated into the PAN matrix. SEM and EDS-mapping images showed that ZIF-8 was dispersed and coated by PAN. The hydrophobicity nature of the as-fabricated sponges was confirmed by assessing the water contact angles (WCA) analysis. The PAN/50%ZIF-8 composite displayed proper hydrophobicity with a WCA of 136.2o. Our results from oil sorption studies demonstrated that PAN/x%ZIF-8 sponges had more appropriate efficiency for wastewater treatment than pure PAN. The PAN/50%ZIF-8 sponge composite showed the highest oil sorption capacities of 16.12, 17.8, and 23.8 g g−1 for sunflower oil, olive oil, and motor oil, respectively. In addition, the oil sorption kinetic investigation exhibited the as-fabricated sorbents followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics model. The antibacterial experiments revealed that PAN/50%ZIF-8 and PAN/30%ZIF-8 composites had significant antibacterial activity against E. coli (5.9 and 5.4 log10 CFU reduction, respectively). Thus, these new composites may be promising candidates for developing self-cleaning materials due to their strong hydrophobicity and antibacterial activity.