Cellulose-based electrospun nanofiber membrane with core-sheath structure and robust photocatalytic activity for simultaneous and efficient oil emulsions separation, dye degradation and Cr(VI) reduction.

Electrospun nanofiber membrane (ENM) shows great advantage and potential in wastewater treatment due to its unique properties. However, exploring a green and efficient ENM for remediation of complex wastewater, such as simultaneous containing oils, dyes and heavy metal ion, remains challenging. In this work, a cellulose-based photocatalytic ENM, is constructed for this purpose. The hybrid ENM is prepared via electrospinning deacetylated cellulose acetate/polyvinyl pyrrolidone (CeP) nanofibers as skeleton cores and in-situ synthesis of beta hydroxyl oxidize iron decorated iron-based MOF (β-FeOOH@MIL-100(Fe)) heterojunctions as photocatalytic sheaths. The core-sheath structured ENM has ultrahigh MIL-100(Fe) loading (78 wt%), large surface areas (1105 m2/g) and well-dispersed β-FeOOH nanorods. Thanks to these porous and hydrophilic MIL-100(Fe), along with a robust photocatalysis-Fenton synergy from β-FeOOH@MIL-100(Fe), the as-prepared ENM shows outstanding performances with simultaneous high removal efficiency for oils (99.5 %), dyes (99.4 %) and chromium ion (Cr(VI)) (99.7 %). Additionally, the photocatalytic ENM can achieve a long-term reuse owing to its inherent self-cleaning function.