Electrospinning fabrication of mesoporous nano Fe2O3-TiO2@activated carbon fiber membrane for hybrid removal of phenol from waste water

Abstract

A mesoporous iron–titanium mixed-oxides@activated carbon(AC) fiber membrane was fabricated by an electrospinning method and applied to the treatment of phenol waste water. The physical and chemical properties of the composite fiber membrane were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N2 adsorption/desorption, UV–Vis light diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), Raman spectroscopy, respectively. The results indicate that the composite nanofiber membrane is composed of α-Fe₂O₃, anatase TiO₂ and activated carbon phases with a specific surface area of 231 m² g^–1 and narrow pore size distribution of 3–6 nm. DRS reveals that the composite membrane has high photons absorption from both ultraviolet light and visible light irradiation owing to the combination of Fe₂O₃, TiO₂ and carbon. The prepared nano Fe₂O₃–TiO₂@AC fiber membrane can act as an efficient reusable photocatalyst and adsorbent for 100% remo val of phenol pollutant. This hybrid technique is hopeful to be widely used in the treatment of various organic waste waters.