NH2-MIL-88B(Fe)/TiO2/PAN electrostatically spun nanofiber membrane for photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline and oil–water separation

Excessive discharge of tetracycline (TC) poses a threat to the environment and human health, and finding a cost-effective treatment method to remove TC from water remains a challenge. In this study, NH2-MIL-88B(Fe)/TiO2/PAN (NMTP) electrostatically spun nanofibrous membranes (ENMs) were prepared, and the NMTP nanofibrous membranes were characterized by water contact angle test, UV–vis and other characterization methods. The results showed that the introduction of NH2-MIL-88B(Fe) expanded the light response range of ENM, accelerated the production of active substances (•O2– and •OH) and improved the hydrophilicity of the membranes, which resulted in the excellent photocatalytic performance and oil–water separation ability of NMTP ENMs. Among them, the degradation efficiencies of NMTP-4 ENMs for tetracycline (TC), chlortetracycline (CTC), and oxytetracycline (OTC) were up to 93.0 %, 94.9 %, and 86.5 % and the removal rate of TC was still maintained at about 80 % after four photocatalytic regenerations. In addition, the NMTP ENMs exhibited excellent separation performance and high throughput for oil-in-water emulsions, with separation efficiencies of 98.15 %, 97.43 % and 84.87 % for toluene-in-water, n-heptane-in-water and n-hexane-in-water emulsions. Based on the above results, this study provides a new idea for the development of an efficient and stable simultaneous catalytic separation technology for oil-in-water emulsions.