Highly dispersed and stable nano zero-valent iron doped electrospun carbon nanofiber composite for aqueous hexavalent chromium removal

Abstract

In this work, a nZVI doped electrospun carbon nanofiber (nZVI-CNF) composite was prepared and applied for aqueous hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) removal. Firstly, FeCl₃/PAN nanofibers were prepared by a simple electrospinning method; Then, nZVI-CNFs were obtained by carbonization of FeCl₃/PAN nanofibers at 800 °C. The surface morphology and internal structure of nZVI-CNFs were characterized by SEM and TEM, showing that the uniformly dispersed nZVI particles were well integrated into the carbon layer structure. The Cr(VI) removal efficiency of nZVI-CNFs was 91.5% with a Cr(VI) concentration of 10 mg L⁻¹ and the mechanism was further studied by XRD and XPS. Meanwhile, the nZVI-CNFs exhibited good stability over a wide range of pH values from 4–8 and a long time placement stability. Furthermore, nZVI-CNFs can be used as a filter membrane for continuous treatment of wastewater, suggesting great potential for practical application.