An effective removal of methylene blue dye using polyacrylonitrile yarn waste/graphene oxide nanofibrous composite

An electrospun nanofibrous composite mat was prepared from polyacrylonitrile yarn waste and graphene oxide. The physical and chemical properties of the nanofibrous composites were characterized using attenuated total reflections Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometer, and TGA studies. The mean fiber diameters of the pristine polyacrylonitrile yarn waste nanofiber, polyacrylonitrile yarn waste/0.5 wt% graphene oxide, polyacrylonitrile yarn waste/1.0 wt% graphene oxide, and polyacrylonitrile yarn waste/1.5 wt% graphene oxide nanofibrous composites were in the range of 41–50, 31–40, 31–40, and 31–40 nm, respectively. The mean pore sizes of the polyacrylonitrile yarn waste nanofiber, polyacrylonitrile yarn waste/0.5 wt% graphene oxide, polyacrylonitrile yarn waste/1.0 wt% graphene oxide, and polyacrylonitrile yarn waste/1.5 wt% graphene oxide nanofibrous composites were 0.5541, 0.4533, 0.4229, and 0.4168 µm, respectively. The maximum dye removal efficiency was attained in the polyacrylonitrile yarn waste/1.5 wt% graphene oxide composite at basic pH.