Electrospun polylactic acid/tungsten oxide/amino-functionalized carbon quantum dots (PLA/WO3/N-CQDs) fibers for oil/water separation and photocatalytic decolorization

• Main Authors: Nugraha, Muhammad Wahyu, Wirzal, Mohd Dzul Hakim, Ali, Fathilah, Roza, Liszulfah, Sambudi, Nonni Soraya
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English
• Published: Elsevier 2021
• Subjects: TP1080 Polymers, plastics and their manufacture
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/92861/7/92861_Electrospun%20polylactic%20acidtungsten%20oxideamino-functionalized%20carbon_SCOPUS.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/92861/8/92861_Electrospun%20polylactic%20acidtungsten%20oxideamino-functionalized%20carbon.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/92861/; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213343721010101; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2021.106033

Oily wastewater generated from various industrial processes and oil spillages is a massive threat to the environment and human health. Hence, it is essential to develop novel material for practical oil/water separation and recovery. By incorporating WO3 (tungsten oxide)/ N-CQDs (amino-functionalized carbon quantum dots) into the matrix of polymer, the alteration of wettability behavior of electrospun PLA fiber is reported in this present work. The modified PLA/WO3/N-CQDs fibers shows a significantly enhanced hydrophobicity of the fibers while maintaining surface super-oleophilicity. These behaviors are achieved by modifying the surface contact angle and surface morphology of the composite PLA fiber using WO3/N-CQDs as filler. The PLA/WO3/N-CQDs EDA fiber exhibits the highest water contact angle (WCA) at 132.37º, oil absorption capacity at 35.752 g/g for n-hexane, oil separation performance at 8,326.048 L m−2 h−1 for n-hexane and 11,961.364 L m−2 h−1 for n-heptane, and decolorization of methylene blue (MB) at 91.80%. Additionally, the PLA/WO3/N-CQDs EDA fiber demonstrated an excellent separation performance and durability after ten times cyclic separation performance test. This present study contributes to a potential application in the field of oily wastewater treatment.