TY - JOUR
T1 - Water Purification through a Novel Electrospun Carbon Nanofiber Membrane
AU - Jamil, Tariq
AU - Munir, Shamsa
AU - Wali, Qamar
AU - Shah, Gul Jamil
AU - Khan, Muhammad Ejaz
AU - Jose, Rajan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society
PY - 2021/12/21
Y1 - 2021/12/21
N2 - Here, we report water purification through novel polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based carbon nanofibers synthesized through the electrospinning technique. In our novel approach, we mix PVA and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) with green tea solutions with different concentrations to synthesize carbon-based nanofibers (CNFs) and further calcine at 280 °C for carbonization. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results show the diameter of the nanofibers to be ∼500 nm, which decreases by about 50% after carbonization, making them more suitable candidates for the filtration process. Next, using these carbon nanofibers, we prepare filters for water purification. The synthesized CNF filters show excellent performance and successful removal of contaminants from the water by analyzing the CNF-based filters before and after the filtration of water through SEM and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. Our SEM and EDX results indicate the presence of various nanoparticles consisting of different elements such as Mg, Na, Ti, S, Si, and Fe on the filters, after the filtration of water. Additionally, the SEM results show that PVA and TEOS concentrations play an important role in the formation, uniformity, homogeneity, and particularly in the reduction of the nanofiber diameter.
AB - Here, we report water purification through novel polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based carbon nanofibers synthesized through the electrospinning technique. In our novel approach, we mix PVA and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) with green tea solutions with different concentrations to synthesize carbon-based nanofibers (CNFs) and further calcine at 280 °C for carbonization. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results show the diameter of the nanofibers to be ∼500 nm, which decreases by about 50% after carbonization, making them more suitable candidates for the filtration process. Next, using these carbon nanofibers, we prepare filters for water purification. The synthesized CNF filters show excellent performance and successful removal of contaminants from the water by analyzing the CNF-based filters before and after the filtration of water through SEM and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. Our SEM and EDX results indicate the presence of various nanoparticles consisting of different elements such as Mg, Na, Ti, S, Si, and Fe on the filters, after the filtration of water. Additionally, the SEM results show that PVA and TEOS concentrations play an important role in the formation, uniformity, homogeneity, and particularly in the reduction of the nanofiber diameter.
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U2 - 10.1021/acsomega.1c05197
DO - 10.1021/acsomega.1c05197
M3 - Article
C2 - 34963957
AN - SCOPUS:85121575355
SN - 2470-1343
VL - 6
SP - 34744
EP - 34751
JO - ACS Omega
JF - ACS Omega
IS - 50
ER -