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Articles Open Access 25 May 2026

Electrospun PAN/PVP/ZnO Nanofiber Membrane as a Photocatalyst for Methylene Blue Degradation under UV Irradiation

  • Rut Rabekka Gultom
    Rut Rabekka Gultom
    Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Terusan Ryacudu, Way Hui, Jati Agung, Lampung Selatan 35365, Indonesia
  • Istiara Rizqillah Hanifah
    Istiara Rizqillah Hanifah
    Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Terusan Ryacudu, Way Hui, Jati Agung, Lampung Selatan 35365, Indonesia
  • Rizky Aflaha
    Rizky Aflaha
    Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Sekip Utara PO Box BLS 21, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia
  • Hannah Faye M. Austria
    Hannah Faye M. Austria
    Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
  • T.M. Subrahmanya
    T.M. Subrahmanya
    Advanced Membrane Materials Research Center, Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 10607, Taiwan
  • Januar Widakdo
    Januar Widakdo
    Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Indonesia, Depok 16424, Indonesia
  • Aditya Rianjanu
    Aditya Rianjanu*
    Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Terusan Ryacudu, Way Hui, Jati Agung, Lampung Selatan 35365, Indonesia
    ORCID0000-0001-7852-3619
    * Corresponding author
Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Terusan Ryacudu, Way Hui, Jati Agung, Lampung Selatan 35365, Indonesia
Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Terusan Ryacudu, Way Hui, Jati Agung, Lampung Selatan 35365, Indonesia
Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Sekip Utara PO Box BLS 21, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia
Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
Advanced Membrane Materials Research Center, Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 10607, Taiwan
Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Indonesia, Depok 16424, Indonesia
Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Terusan Ryacudu, Way Hui, Jati Agung, Lampung Selatan 35365, Indonesia

Abstract

Textile dye pollution remains a critical environmental concern, necessitating the development of efficient and recoverable photocatalysts for wastewater remediation. In this study, polyacrylonitrile/polyvinylpyrrolidone/zinc oxide (PAN/PVP/ZnO) nanofiber membranes were fabricated via electrospinning with varying ZnO loadings (0, 0.5, 1, and 2 mmol) and evaluated for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed continuous, bead-free nanofibers with mean diameters of 355–552 nm, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) confirmed systematic Zn incorporation up to 34.52 wt%. A comparative study demonstrated that heat treatment at 450 °C was essential for converting the Zn(NO<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub> precursor into the photocatalytically active ZnO phase. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the retention of the polymer matrix integrity. Among the tested formulations, PAN/PVP/ZnO-1 (1 mmol) exhibited the highest photocatalytic performance, achieving approximately 95% MB degradation within 180 min, with a pseudo-first-order rate constant of k = 0.0251 min<sup>−1</sup> (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.9926), approximately 9 times faster than the neat PAN/PVP membrane. Higher ZnO loading (2 mmol) resulted in reduced photocatalytic performance. These findings indicate that 1 mmol ZnO is the optimal loading for PAN/PVP nanofiber photocatalysts, offering a promising recoverable membrane system for photocatalytic dye removal from wastewater.

Keywords

electrospinning PAN/PVP/ZnO nanofiber Photocatalysis methylene blue degradation wastewater treatment

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Cite this: Greensusmater. 2026, 3, 1, 02
Publication History
  • Received: March 19, 2026
  • Accepted: May 3, 2026
  • Published: May 25, 2026
DOI: 10.62755/gsm.2026.02
Copyright © 2026 | The Authors. This publication is licensed under CC-BY 4.0. Published by Green and Sustainable Materials Society.
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