Zein/polyvinyl alcohol‐based electrospun nanofibrous films reinforced with nano‐hydroxyapatite for efficient Cu(II) adsorption

Abstract To solve the problem of the presence of heavy metals in water causing water pollution, the biodegradable film based on zein/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with the incorporation of nano‐hydroxyapatite (nHAP) was fabricated through an electrospinning technique. The copper ion was taken as the representative of heavy metal ions in this study. The result showed that the incorporated nHAP nanoparticles were dispersed within the zein/PVA matrix, and strong hydrogen bonding interactions were formed between the filler and matrix, improving the hydrophobicity of the nanofibrous films and maintaining thermal stability. The adsorption mechanism was analyzed by fitting the adsorption process with pseudo‐first‐order model and pseudo‐second‐order model. Based on the ion exchange effect, electrostatic interaction, and complexation, the adsorption capacities of nanofibrous films for Cu(II) were significantly increased after adding nHAP. When the nHAP content was 20 wt.%, the Cu(II) adsorption capacity reached up to 23.86 mg/g, and the adsorption efficiency was 13.94% higher than that of neat zein/PVA nanofibers. This work suggests the potential of the electrospun zein/PVA/nHAP nanofibrous films as desirable eco‐friendly materials in metal removal applications.