ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Reusable electrospun PAN/SBA-15 composite nanofiber membrane for eco-friendly removal of organic pollutants from wastewater: synthesis, characterization, and adsorption mechanism insights

Muhammad Hassan Rafe, Zakariya Zubair, Kyungjun Lee, and Fiaz Hussain

Laboratoire de Photochimie et d’Ingénierie Macromoléculaires (LPIM), University of Upper Alsace (UHA), Mulhouse, France

E-mail: rafe_ntu@yahoo.com

Received: 12 January 2026  Accepted: 28 May 2026

Abstract:

Electrospun nanofibers based on non-toxic materials have attained significant attention in many fields, especially for the adsorption of organic dyes, due to their relatively inexpensive, low operation cost, and likely to cause minimal adverse reaction when they are used in a filtration system. SBA-15 + PAN nanofibers were fabricated using needless electrospinning techniques. The structural and morphological analysis was carried out using X-ray Diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), which shows the formation of bead-free nanofibers. The nanofibers were further used for the adsorption of two cationic dyes, Methylene blue (MB) and Neutral red (NR). It is observed that due to the different cationic nature, MB follows pseudo 2nd order kinetics and NR follows pseudo 1st order. It is important to note that the Langmuir isotherm model is followed by both dyes, which shows monolayer adsorption on all adsorbents. A detailed investigation of the influence of pH and temperature on the adsorption of dyes on various specimens was also carried out on both dyes, underlining that nanofibers are a suitable choice for wastewater treatment. The prepared nanomaterials exhibited exceptional dye removal efficiency up to 6 successive cycles.

Keywords: Polyacrylonitrile/SBA-15 composites; Sustainable membranes; Reusability; Wastewater treatment; Langmuir isotherm; And adsorption kinetics

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-026-05130-8

Chemical Papers 80 (10) 12269–12285 (2026)