Preparation of Hydrolyzed Electrospun Polyacrylonitrile Fiber Mats as Chelating Substrates: A Case Study on Copper(II) Ions

Ultrafine polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fiber mats were prepared by electrospinning and subsequently hydrolytically treated with a sodium hydroxide ethanolic/aqueous solution to impart the ability to chelate metal ions. This was achieved through the conversion of the nitrile functional groups on the surface of the PAN fibers into imine conjugated sequences, which was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The chelating property of the hydrolyzed electrospun PAN fiber mats (i.e., H-ePAN fiber mats) was evaluated against Cu(II) ions. The amounts of the Cu(II) ions adsorbed onto the H-ePAN fiber mats were influenced by the initial pH and the initial concentration of the metal ion solutions. At the optimal pH of 5.0, the amounts of the Cu(II) ions adsorbed onto the H-ePAN fiber mats increased with an initial increase in the time the materials were in contact with the metal ion solution to finally reach the maximal, plateau values after about 5 h of immersion. The maximal adsorption capacity of the H-ePAN fiber mats for the Cu(II) ions was determined to be 31.3 mg g(-1) and the fully adsorbed materials could be regenerated upon submersion in 0.1 M hydrochloric acid aqueous solution for 30 min. Finally, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated specific interactions between the adsorbed Cu(II) ions and the N- and/or the O-atoms associated with the imine groups on the surface of the H-ePAN fibers.