PVA /PDA@g-C3N4 Composite Nanofiber Membranes for Enhanced Photocatalytic Bacteriostasis and Degradation.

In the face of severe environmental problems and resource shortage in the world today, photocatalysis technology has attracted much attention because of its green, efficient and environmentally friendly advantages. Photocatalysis converts solar energy into chemistry energy, which can be applied to water decomposition to produce hydrogen, degradation of organic contamination, CO₂ reduction, organic synthesis and other fields. In this paper, poly(dopamine)@carbon nitride (PDA@CN) was synthesized by dopamine self-polymerization on the surface of g-C₃N₄ and the PVA/PDA@CN composite antibacterial nanofiber membranes were successfully prepared by electrospinning with PVA solution doped with PDA@CN. PDA can play a role in light absorption, electron transfer and adhesion interface. The results showed that PDA had an effect on the light-harvesting ability of PDA@CN, and the visible light capturing ability of PDA@CN increased. From the inhibition results, it could be seen that the PVA/PDA@CN nanofiber membranes with 5% PDA@CN had good inhibition effect on E. coli and S. aureus under visible light irradiation and the maximum inhibition circle radius could reach 10.8 mm and 11.6 mm, respectively, and the inhibition rate of E. coli could be up to 93.1%. According to the results of photocatalytic degradation experiments, the obtained PVA/PDA@CN membranes showed enhanced photocatalytic degradation efficiency under visible light. When the PDA@CN content was 5 wt.%, the removal rate of MB by PVA/PDA@CN membrane reached 98.7%. In addition, the membrane had good thermal stability and excellent mechanical properties, which had great potential for future applications in many fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]