Effective removal of cesium ions by using PAN/PANI blend nanofibers prepared by electrospinning method

In this study, polyacrylonitrile/polyaniline (PAN/PANI) blend nanofibers were prepared by the electrospinning method, and their performance was evaluated as an effective cesium ions adsorbent. The adsorption behavior of cesium ions onto the synthesized nanofibers was explored as a function of pH, contact time, temperature, and initial adsorbate concentration. The isotherm results revealed that the Freundlich model is the best-fit isotherm for cesium adsorption. The adsorption kinetics could be modeled by a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The thermodynamic parameters imply that the sorption process is spontaneous and exothermic. The maximum uptake of Cesium ions by PAN/PANI nanofibers was 80 mg/g.