Facile preparation of novel Fe-BTC@PAN nanofibrous aerogel membranes for highly efficient continuous flow degradation of organic dyes

Catalysts synthesized by immobilization of iron-based metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) on nanofibrous aerogel membranes (NFAMs) have great potential for practical applications in treatment of organic wastewaters. In this work, an ultralight [email protected] (PAN) NFAM with three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical porous structure was prepared by a green and facile in-situ growth strategy at room temperature. It was used as a catalytic membrane in a filtration device for testing the degradation of methylene blue (MB). The comprehensive characterization of the [email protected] NFAM confirmed the in-situ growth of Fe-BTC on NFAM. Combining the advantages of both MOFs and NFAMs, the as-obtained [email protected] NFAM, as a heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst, exhibited excellent catalytic performance towards degradation of methylene blue (over 98.3% of MB could be removed within 120 min with high reaction rate constant of 0.0284 min−1). The effects of H2O2 concentration, initial pH, temperature, and MB concentration on the catalytic performance were investigated. Moreover, the removal efficiency remained up to 90% over multiple cycles with negligible iron leaching (less than0.5 mg/L), which indicated catalytic stability with good reusability. Furthermore, the plausible reaction mechanism was proposed. Hence, this study provides promising insights into the rational design of high-performance 3D MOF-based Fenton-like catalyst for treatment of organic wastewaters.