Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic activity of silver nanoparticles/amidoxime-modified polyacrylonitrile nanofibers

Abstract

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers were prepared by an electrospinning technique, which were chemically modified with amidoxime groups. The silver nanoparticles were then synthesized on amidoxime modified PAN (OM-PAN), which was used for the photodegradation of methyl orange in aqueous solution. The SEM images showed that the average diameter of PAN nanofibers was below 200 nm. The SEM micrograph also showed that the silver nanoparticles were well dispersed on the surface of OM-PAN nanofiber mat. The micrograph also presented that the average size of silver nanoparticles was below 100 nm. The photodegradation study showed that the degradation of methyl orange in aqueous medium was increased as increased the irradaition time. The results illustrated that silver nanoparticles (Ag)/OM-PAN nanofiber mat degraded about 80 % of methyl orange within 6 h. The degradation efficiency was found to be pH dependent and maximum degradation was found at lower pH (about 90 % of dye is degraded at pH 2). The Ag/OM-PAN nanofiber dosage presented that the degradation of dye was increased as increased the catalyst dosage.

Synthesis, characterization, and photocatalytic application of Pd/ZrO2 and Pt/ZrO2

“…The catalyst from each vial is separated by centrifugation (1200 rpm) after specific irradiation time, while the indigo disulfonate degradation was calculated by UV-VIS spectrophotometry ((UV-1800, Shimadzu, Japan). The following equation was used for the calculation of %degradation of indigo disulfonate in aqueous medium (Saeed et al 2015).…”

“…Their growth has increased the generation and accumulation of waste by-products (Mital and Manoj 2011). These industries discharge their effluents containing water pollutants such as dyes and pigments (Saeed et al 2015). Synthetic dyes have been increasingly used in textiles, plastic, rubber, cosmetics, foods, and pharmaceutical industries (Sharma and Sharma 2013).…”

“…Various chemical, biological, and physical techniques are used for its elimination like adsorption, precipitation, ozonization, membrane separation, ultrafiltration, and flocculation. Most of these treatment techniques are non-destructive and convert them into other products which are considered as secondary pollutants that need further treatment (Saeed et al 2015). Recently, semiconductor photocatalysis has attracted much attention for waste water treatment due to its potential of scavengering large range of toxic pollutants (organic and inorganic) at ambient pressure and temperature with no harmful by-products (Saeed et al 2015).…”

“…Most of these treatment techniques are non-destructive and convert them into other products which are considered as secondary pollutants that need further treatment (Saeed et al 2015). Recently, semiconductor photocatalysis has attracted much attention for waste water treatment due to its potential of scavengering large range of toxic pollutants (organic and inorganic) at ambient pressure and temperature with no harmful by-products (Saeed et al 2015). This technology provides a simple route for conversion of solar energy into chemical energy used for water splitting and other purposes (Ayodhya et al 2016).…”

“…Photocatalysts are semiconducting materials that are activated via adsorbing high-energy photon and have the ability of accelerate photodegradation reaction without being consumed Fox 1988). Various photocatalysts are reported for the photodegradation of organic pollutants such as Zn 2+ -Ni 2+ -Fe 3+ -CO 3 2− LDHs for methyl orange (Dang et al 2017), PAN/CNT-TiO 2 for methylene blue and indigo carmine (Mohamed et al 2016), Ag/OM-PAN nanofiber for methyl orange (Saeed et al 2015), graphene-supported Sn-Pt bimetallic nanoparticles Basic Green 5 , TiO 2 nanoparticles for methyl orange (Su et al 2013), Mg doped TiO 2 for methyl orange (Avasarala et al 2016), TiO 2 / Pt and TiO 2 /Pd photocatalysts for methyl violet dye (Saeed et al 2017), and chitosan conjugated magnetic nanoparticles used for of bromophenol blue ).…”