The combined contamination of heavy metals and antibiotics is a prevalent occurrence, yet the distinct chemical characteristics of these substances pose a significant obstacle to their simultaneous elimination. In this work, novel polyacrylonitrile nanofibrous mat (NFsM) modified with cysteamine and ionic liquid (IL@Cys@PAN NFsM) was developed using a cascade thiol-ene click reaction. The IL@Cys@PAN NFsM exhibits a rich array of functional groups and demonstrates strong binding affinity, fast mass transfer, and exceptional selectivity for sulfonamides (SAs) and Cu(II). The maximum adsorption capacities for SAs and Cu(II) in single-component systems were 122.3 and 97.4 mg/g respectively, according to the Langmuir isotherm model. The time dependent adsorption capacities followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model, demonstrating a chemisorptiondominant process for each analyte. In binary pollutant systems, the co-occurrence of SAs and Cu(II) in water produced a competitive effect; however, the decrease in adsorption capacity was minimal. Through experimental analysis, FTIR characterization and density functional theory (DFT) studies, reasonable interactions of hydrogenbond, electrostatic interactions, it-it stacking for SAs, and chelation effect for Cu(II) were proposed. Additionally, the reusability and recyclability of IL@Cys@PAN NFsM enhance its practicality for real-world applications. This paper presents the first systematic study on the simultaneous adsorption of heavy metals and antibiotics using NFsM, offering a novel perspective on the design of custom adsorbents capable of efficiently removing multiple contaminants with diverse characteristics while balancing eco-friendliness, excellent adsorption performance, and impressive recyclability for wastewater remediation.
