PEI/GO-codecorated poly(acrylic acid-co-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) fiber as a carrier to support iron ions and its catalytic performance for methylene blue decolorization

Iron Species-Supporting Hydrophobic and Nonswellable Polytetrafluoroethylene/Poly(acrylic acid-co-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) Composite Fiber and Its Stable Catalytic Activity for Methylene Blue Oxidative Decolorization

Polytetrafluoroethylene emulsion was ultrasonically mixed with an extremely spinnable poly(acrylic acid-co-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) solution to get a dispersion with good spinnability, and the obtained dispersion was then wet-spun into water-swellable fiber. Crosslinking agents and iron species were simultaneously introduced into the water-swellable fiber through simple impregnation and water swelling. A composite fiber with Fenton reaction-catalyzing function was then fabricated by sequentially conducting crosslinking and sintering treatment. Due to crosslinking-induced good resistance to water swelling and PTFE component-induced hydrophobicity, the composite fiber showed a highly stable activity to catalyze H₂O₂ to oxidatively decolorize methylene blue (MB). Within nine cycles, the composite fiber could decolorize more than 90% of MB within one minute in the presence of H₂O₂ and did not show any attenuation in MB decolorization efficiency. The composite fiber still could reduce the total organic carbon of MB aqueous solution from 18.3 to 10.3 mg/L when used for the ninth time. Therefore, it is believable that the prepared fiber has good and broad application prospects in the field of dye wastewater treatment.