Utilization of CA and PVDF Polymers for Membrane Fabrication and Its Performance on Adsorption Application

Abstract

This study explores electrospun nanofiber membranes fabricated from cellulose acetate (CA) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) for adsorbing methylene blue (MB) dye and heavy metals, likely copper (Cu(II)) and lead (Pb(II)). The CA/SDS-GO/zeolite demonstrated enhanced performance, achieving a 95.02% adsorption efficiency for MB dye and a capacity of 237.35 mg/g, compared to PVDF/SDS-GO/zeolite, which exhibited 90.62% efficiency and a capacity of 226.54 mg/g. The enhanced efficiency can be ascribed to the CA membrane’s extensive surface area and numerous active sites. For heavy metal removal, the CA membrane showed a higher adsorption efficiency for Pb(II) (95.48%, 238.71 mg/g) than for Cu(II) (94.39%, 235.99 mg/g). Further adsorption isotherm studies revealed that the Langmuir model (correlation coefficient of 0.9999) fit better than the Freundlich model, suggesting homogenous surface interactions with Pb(II) molecules. Due to its extensive surface area and active sites, CA/SDS-GO/zeolite shows great potential as an efficient adsorbent for eliminating Pb(II), thereby improving both adsorption efficiency and the membrane’s applicability in environmental remediation.