Electrospun TiO-GO/PAN-CA nanofiber mats: A novel material for remediation of organic contaminants and nitrophenol reduction.

The outstanding properties of nanofiber composites have made them a popular choice for various structural applications. Recently, there has been a growing interest in using electrospun nanofibers as reinforcement agents, which possess exceptional properties that can enhance the performance of these composites. Herein, TiO-graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposite incorporated into polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/cellulose acetate (CA) nanofibers were fabricated by an effortless electrospinning technique. The chemical and structural characteristics of the resulting electrospun TiO-GO nanofibers were examined employing diverse techniques such as XRD, FTIR, XPS, TGA, mechanical properties, and FESEM. Remediation of organic contaminants and organic transformation reactions with electrospun TiO-GO nanofibers were performed. The results indicated that the incorporation of TiO-GO with various TiO/GO ratios did not affect the molecular structure of PAN-CA. Still, they did significantly increase the mean fiber diameter (234-467 nm) and the mechanical properties of the nanofibers comprising UTS, elongation, Young's modulus, and toughness compared to PAN-CA. From various ratios of TiO/GO (0.01TiO/0.005GO and 0.005TiO/0.01GO) in the electrospun NFs, the nanofiber containing a high content of TiO showed over 97% of the initial MB dyes were degraded after 120 min of visible light exposure and the same nanofibers also, achieved 96% nitrophenol conversion to aminophenol in just 10 min with activity factor k value of 47.7 gmin. These findings illustrate the promise of TiO-GO/PAN-CA nanofibers for use in various structural applications, particularly in the remediation of organic contaminants from water and organic transformation reactions.