Heterogeneous Ag@ZnO nanorods decorated on polyacrylonitrile fiber membrane for enhancing the photocatalytic and antibacterial properties

The development of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers with multifunctional properties, such as photocatalytic and antibacterial properties, is an urgent need to expand their practical application. Herein, ZnO seeds were deposited on electrospun PAN fibers by dip-coating method, and then silver particles (Ag)@ZnO nanorodsdecorated PAN fibers were prepared by hydrothermal method. The morphology, structure and performance of the fibers/membranes were studied. Compared with the ZnO nanorods- and seeds-decorated fiber membranes, the Ag@ZnO nanorods-decorated membrane showed excellent photocatalytic and antibacterial activities due to the formation of Ag/ZnO heterostructure. After UV irradiation for 90 min, the photocatalytic activity of the membrane was more than 90%, and can reach 99.0% after 150 min irradiation. Furthermore, after five cycles of photodegradation, the photocatalytic activity still remained 98.6%. The results suggest that the heterogeneous Ag@ZnO nanorods-decorated PAN fiber membrane with excellent, stable and reusable photocatalytic and antibacterial activities has potential application prospects in air and water purification.