Ester-Functionalized Ferrocene Based Polyvinylbenzyl Chloride Nanofiber as a Decyanidating Agent

The need for developing a decyanidating agent has been inspired by the extreme toxicity of cyanide which could lead to serious health challenges. Herein, the diazotization-esterification mechanism was employed to synthesize 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthyl-bis(n5-cyclopentadienyl)iron carboxylate, FePNCp, which was further embedded on synthesized electrospun polyvinyl-benzyl chloride (ePVBC) to form a functionalized nanofiber composite material of poly(ferrocenyl-l-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthylvinylbenzylchloride, (FePNCp-PVBC). The morphology of the functionalized nanofiber showed a smooth fibrous and porous assembled structure with an average particle size of 19.92 nm. However, due to the intrinsic properties of the newly produced material, it was applied in the entrapping of cyanide ions from an aqueous medium. With a sorbent dosage of 0.01 g in 8 mg/L CN- concentration, 92.2% decyanidation capacity was obtained within 45 min for FePNCp-PVBC while 65.83% was obtained for the unfunctionalized ePVBC. The obvious improvement recorded by FePNCp-PVBC for the entrapment of CN- ions could be attributed to the coordinative interaction between the ferrocenyl molecule and the cyanide ligand. By comparing with similar nanofiber materials, this new FePNCp-PVBC gave higher performance efficiency and thus could serve as a better alternative to cyanide detoxification.