Dual-functional design of tubular polyvinyl chloride hybrid nanofiber membranes for the simultaneous oil/water separation and in-situ catalytic degradation

The design and application of multi-functional membrane materials capable of realizing one-step efficient treatment of complex polluted media have been developed into one of the effective solutions to solve the waste liquid with complex working conditions, which can simplify the treatment steps and reduce the treatment cost. Herein, a kind of dual-functional tubular PVC/SiO2/SiO2@Ag nanofiber membrane integrated the functions of oil/water separation and dyes catalytic degradation was prepared via electrospinning process, with the tubular PVC/SiO2 nanofiber membrane as matrix and functionalized SiO2@Ag nanoparticles as inorganic additives. The prepared PVC/SiO2/SiO2@Ag nanofiber membrane contained a three-dimensional hydrophobic structure and SiO2@Ag ultrathin catalytic layer, which could achieve the synergistic effect to endow the as-prepared nanofiber membrane with simultaneous oil/water separation and in-situ catalytic degradation performance. As the SiO2@Ag content reached up to 6 wt%, the membrane revealed excellent oil/water separation performance (96% oil removal rate in the oil/water mixture) and simultaneously achieved efficient catalytic degradation performance (95% catalytic degradation rate of methylene blue in water). Moreover, the SiO2@Ag nanoparticles semi-embedded on the as-prepared nanofiber membrane had good bonding with PVC nanofibers, which endowed the tubular PVC/SiO2/SiO2@Ag nanofiber membrane with excellent reuse performance.