Ag nanoparticles functionalized melamine sponges for enhanced catalytic reduction of methylene blue

Silver (Ag) nanoparticle, owing to its remarkably reactivity and high selectivity, has been achieved considerable attention in the field of dye pollution. In this work, Ag nanoparticles were deposited onto the surface of melamine sponges (Ag-PDA-MS) via mussel-inspired polydopamine layers. Firstly, melamine sponge was coated with polydopamine layers, and then Ag nanoparticles were adhered on sponge surface by in situ reducing of Ag+ via the polydopamine layer. The prepared Ag-PDA-MS was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Ag-PDA-MS displayed high catalytic reduction ability for methylene blue. The reaction rate constant of catalytic reduction methylene blue was 3.25 min−1. The flow-through catalytic system with Ag-PDA-MS was conducted with a higher permeation flux of 1510 L m−2h−1 and higher reduction of 99.4 % for MB. The obtained results may illustrate a material for highly efficient degradation of organic pollutants.