Recyclable and Eco-compatible Polymer Composite Nanofibers for Broad-Spectrum Dye Remediation

Abstract

Photocatalytic nanoparticles (NPs) exhibit efficacious synthetic dye removal, particularly when compared to conventional approaches such as dye molecule coagulation-flocculation or chemical precipitation. However, in spite of NPs' high reactivity and aptness for such applications, their practical employment is often hindered by complications in handling, recovery and recycling, contributing to significant loss of mass. To improve upon these gaps and develop a resilient, recyclable matrix with improved efficiency across an extensive spectrum of dyes, CuO-ZrO2 NPs were embedded in polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers (NFs) via electrospinning at varying concentrations of 20, 40, and 60 wt.% and then stabilised at 250°C for 12 h to obtain novel CuO-ZrO2@PAN nanofibers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the fabrication and application of electrospun PAN nanofibers incorporating CuO-ZrO₂ hybrid nanoparticles. Among these, the nanofibers with 40 wt.% CuO-ZrO2 exhibited the highest dye removal efficiency as a photo-active filter (PAF). SEM images showed an arbitrarily oriented dispersal of nanoparticles on nanofibers surface with diverse dimensions. This new approach not only improves durability and wettability but also broadens its applicability to a variety of dyes. Ecotoxicity profiling of the synthesised nanofibers was also performed to prove its safety in an environmental setup.