Tannic Acid/FeIII Complexes Coating PAN Nanofibrous Membrane for Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Degradation of Dyeing Wastewater

Considering photocatalytic degradation technology has recently attracted great attention for dyeing wastewater treatment, the polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibrous membrane coated with the TA/FeIII complexes was proposed as a novel photocatalyst in this work. The successful self-assembly of TA/FeIII complexes on the PAN nanofibrous membrane after layer-by-layer deposition of TA and FeIII was confirmed by the analyses of chemical structure, morphology, and hydrophilicity. With the number of coating cycles, more TA/FeIII complexes coated on the PAN nanofibrous membrane, which contributed to the excellent photocatalytic activity. Whereas, when the coating cycles reached seven, the photocatalytic performance of the modified PAN nanofibrous membrane deteriorated due to the serious aggregation of TA/FeIII complexes. Under optimum five coating cycles, owing to its great light absorbance capability, the modified PAN nanofibrous membrane achieved 98% degradation efficiency of RhB after 360 min illumination. This work would offer a promising high-performance photocatalyst for dyeing wastewater treatment.