Mitigation of antimonate pollution in mining wastewater via nodule-structured electrospun nanofibers modified with quaternized polymer-grafted graphene oxide
摘要
Antimony contamination from industrial activities poses severe threats to aquatic ecosystems. To address this challenge, we engineered a breakthrough electrospun nanofibrous membrane through functional graphene-polymer synergy, specifically polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers doped with quaternary ammonium-grafted graphene oxide (GO). This innovation begins with molecular precision functionalization, where poly(2-(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) is covalently grafted onto GO via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP), followed by quaternization, yielding GO-g-qPDMAEMA with ultra-high positive charge density (ζ-potential: +31.21 mV), optimized for electrostatic capture of Sb(OH)₆⁻ anions. Moreover, incorporation of GO-g-qPDMAEMA into PAN induced nodular protrusions during electrospinning, creating hierarchical pores that boosted specific surface area by 14.3 times (157.7 m²/g vs. 11.0 m²/g for PAN). This morphology-driven enhancement significantly contributes to the membrane’s exceptional performance. Additionally, the membrane achieves a high Sb(V) adsorption capacity of 180.02 mg/g, while maintaining relatively stable adsorption performance across pH 3–7, validated by removing 87.8% Sb from real mining effluent. Consequently, this electrostatic-porosity coupled design establishes a new paradigm for heavy metal remediation membranes, combining scalable fabrication with operational robustness.