Durable ZIF-8/Ag/AgCl/TiO2 decorated PAN nanofibers with high visible light photocatalytic and antibacterial activities for degradation of dyes

Abstract A ZIF-8/Ag/AgCl/TiO2 modified PAN nanofibrous mat was successfully fabricated via stepwise in-situ growth method. The morphology and composition of the resultant ZIF-8/Ag/AgCl/TiO2 modified PAN nanofibrous mat were confirmed by emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), respectively. Next, methylene blue (MB) was employed as a contaminant to evaluate photocatalytic activity of prepared composite photocatalysts under visible light and natural sunlight irradiation. As expected, the ZIF-8/Ag/AgCl/TiO2 decorated PAN nanofibrous mat exhibited high photocatalytic activity under both light sources, owing to the synergistic effect among ZIF-8, Ag/AgCl and TiO2. The degradation efficiency of the targeted PAN nanofibrous mat under visible light could reach to 98.02% within 120 min towards 20 mL of 50 mg/L MB aqueous solution. Most importantly, the fabricated ZIF-8/Ag/AgCl/TiO2 modified PAN nanofibrous mat exhibited outstanding recyclability, the corresponding degradation efficiencies were up to 90.16% after five cycles and approximately 80% after ten cycles, respectively. Additionally, the resultant nanofibrous mat showed a long-term stability against acid and alkaline, and excellent antimicrobial performance against S. aureus and E. coli.