Fabrication of PAN/amine-functionalized ZnO nanofibers and their performance of photocatalytic activity and antibacterial activity

Abstract

It has been investigated the photocatalytic and antibacterial performance of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers which incorporated into amine-functionalized zinc oxide nanoparticles. Zinc oxides (ZnO) nanoparticles are successfully functionalized with 3-aminopropyl-triethoxysilane (APTES) at room temperature. The amine-functionalized ZnO NPs were characterized using TEM, FT-IR, and XRD, and the surface modification mechanism was evaluated by XPS. By electrospinning technique, the hybrid nanofiber composites were fabricated and the resultant membranes are characterized using SEM, TEM and FT-IR. Their photocatalytic activity was evaluated under irradiation of UV light (400 W), and the apparent first-order rate constant (min-1) increased from 0.012 to 0.027 min-1 compare to the PAN nanofibers. Their antibacterial activity was also estimated against S. Aureus (ATCC 6538) and K. Pneumoniae (ATCC 4352). It was confirmed that the antibacterial activity was improved as the amine-functionalized ZnO NPs was contained and the ZnO content increased (from 18.5 % to 99.9 %). These resultant multifunctional PAN/amine-functionalized ZnO nanofibers show the improved photocatalytic and antibacterial performance, and be applied to an effective water filtration system and contribute to environmental improvement.