Electrospun Nanofibers from Waste Polyvinyl Chloride Loaded Silver and Titanium Dioxide for Water Treatment Applications

[Image: see text] The electrospun nanofiber membrane from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) waste for water treatment applications has been successfully produced. The PVC precursor solution was prepared by dissolving the PVC waste in DMAc solvent, and a centrifuge was used to separate undissolved materials from the precursor solution. Ag and TiO(2) were added to the precursor solution before the electrospinning process. We studied the fabricated PVC membranes using SEM, EDS, XRF, XRD, and FTIR to study the fiber and membrane properties. The SEM images depicted that Ag and TiO(2) addition has changed the morphology and size of fibers. The EDS images and XRF spectra confirmed the presence of Ag and TiO(2) on the nanofiber membrane. The XRD spectra showed the amorphous structure of all membranes. The FTIR result indicated that the solvent completely evaporated throughout the spinning process. The fabricated PVC@Ag/TiO(2) nanofiber membrane showed the photocatalytic degradation of dyes under visible light. The filtration test on the membrane PVC and PVC@Ag/TiO(2) depicted that the presence of Ag and TiO(2) affected the flux and separation factor of the membrane.