Electrospinning of cellulose acetate/graphene/nanoclay nanocomposite for textile wastewater filtration

In this study, electrospinning technique was used to prepare cellulose acetate (CA) and graphene oxide (GO) nanofiber composites along with nanoclay (NC) for filtration applications. For this purpose, different contents of GO and NC were added to the CA solution, and the electrospinning process was optimized to produce the finest fiber. The morphology and crystalline structures of the resulting nanofiber composites were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. According to the obtained results, the CA (12%)/GO (1%)/NC (1%) nanofiber had the minimum mean fiber diameter and uniform diameter distribution among all electrospun fibers. TEM images showed good dispersion of the employed nanostructures (GO and NC) in the fibrous membranes. The results of the mechanical test revealed 24% improvement in the tensile strength of the nanocomposite fiber (CA/GO/NC) in comparison with CA fiber. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) indicated that the presence of GO and NC led to higher thermal stability than pristine polymeric fiber. XRD results confirmed the presence of both amorphous and crystalline CA in the optimized sample. The spectrophotometric analysis showed that the amount of dye absorption increased after adding GO and NC to CA. In conclusion, the produced fibrous nanocomposite can be used as a potential filter for color removal in the textile industry.