Adsorption of silver ions on polypyrrole embedded electrospun nanofibrous polyethersulfone membranes

• We developed polypyrrole loaded nanofibrous polyethersulfone membranes.
• Electrospun membranes exhibited good silver ion uptake capabilities.
• The metal uptake increased with the initial metal ion concentrations.
• Nanofibrous membranes could be reused after the recovery process.

In this study we developed polypyrrole embedded electrospun nanofibrous polyethersulfone nanofibrous membranes for the removal of silver ions. Polypyrrole and polyethersulfone dissolved in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) were electrospun into nanofibrous membranes via an electrospinning process. The morphology of as-spun polypyrrole/polyethersulfone nanofibers was examined by scanning electron microscopy. The average diameter of electrospun nanofibers ranged from 410 nm to 540 nm. The adsorption capability of nanofibrous polypyrrole/polyethersulfone membranes was measured and compared with that of bulk polypyrrole. The influence of various process conditions on adsorption efficiency was also examined. The experimental results suggested that the electrospun nanofibrous membranes exhibited good silver ion uptake capabilities. The metal uptake of nanofibrous membranes increased with the initial metal ion concentrations and the pH value, while decreased with the temperature and the filtering rate of the solutions. Furthermore, the electrospun membrane could be reused after the recovery process.

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