Aminated Polyacrylonitrile Nanofiber Membranes for the Removal of Organic Dyes

Adsorption is a promising technique for the effective removal of dyes from dyeing wastewater resulting from the paper, textile, and leather industries. Herein, we report a facile strategy for preparing adsorption membrane-based aminated ultrathin polyacrylonitrile (UPAN-N) nanofibers to effectively remove the synthetic dyes from wastewater. The UPAN-N nanofibers were synthesized using a mixed solution electrospinning procedure, followed by triethylenetetramine modification. After the amino modification, the surface of the obtained UPAN-N nanofiber membrane is rich in amino groups, which endows the resulting membrane with an ultrahigh adsorption capacity of more than 1800 mg/g for the organic dye DR23 and a rapid adsorption rate for DR23 solutions with the concentrations ranging from 20 to 100 mg/L. This work not only provides a feasible method for the preparation of high-capacity adsorbents but also offers the possibility of preparing nanofibers by a mixed solution electrospinning procedure.