Polydopamine-functionalized electrospun poly(vinyl alcohol)/chitosan nanofibers for the removal and determination of Cu(II)

Environmentally friendly and recycled polydopamine-functionalized electrospun poly(vinyl alcohol)/chitosan nanofibers (PVA/CS/PDA) were prepared through a low-energy-consumption procedure. The PDA coating endows PVA/CS/PDA nanofibers with good water stability. The PVA/CS/PDA nanofibers have a fibrillar and porous structure that is favorable for Cu(II) to access the active sites of the nanofibers. The adsorption isotherm and kinetics data preferably conform to the Liu isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity of Cu(II) ions by PVA/CS/PDA nanofibers from the Liu isotherm model is 326.5 mg g−1. The PVA/CS/PDA nanofibers exhibit higher adsorption capacity than some other reported adsorbents. The adsorption mechanism study demonstrates that the Cu(II) adsorption is mainly ascribed to the complexation of Cu(II) with the imino, amino, and hydroxy moieties in PVA/CS/PDA nanofibers. The nanofibers can be employed for 5 cycles without significantly deteriorating performance. More interestingly, a fluorometry method based on the oxidation mimic enzyme activity of Cu(II) was developed to detect low concentrations of Cu(II) using the nanofibers as an adsorbent to preconcentrate Cu(II). The limit of detection is 0.42 mg L−1. The successful removal and detection of Cu(II) in Pearl River and mineral water samples demonstrates the great potential of PVA/CS/PDA nanofibers to remediate Cu(II)-polluted water.