A new catalyst material from electrospun PVDF-HFP nanofibers by using magnetron-sputter coating for the treatment of dye-polluted waters

In this study, polyvinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP)–based nanofibers were produced by electrospinning technique on aluminum substrate and coated with magnetron sputtering technique by using Cu2O photocatalyst target material. Resulting materials were characterized by SEM, EDX, and UV diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Photocatalytic activity of the material was tested against methylene blue decolorization under 105 W tungsten light bulb. Methylene blue concentration was followed up by UV visible spectrophotometer at 664 nm. Kinetic modeling of the photocatalytic reaction was found suitable to the first-order kinetics. Reaction rate constants were 0.0037, 0.0044, and 0.0050 min−1 respectively with corresponding half-life times of 187, 158, and 139 min. Thanks to the genuine design of the catalyst, it allowed easy removal of the material from the solution without any residue by simple tweezers which is a promising step for getting rid of heavy and low yield of filtration processes in the separation of particulate catalysts from the treated water.