Abstract: Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers were fabricated via electrospinning technique, and the modified Fe-polyacrylonitrile nanofibers photocatalysts(Fe-AO-n-PAN) were prepared by a reaction between PAN nanofibers (AO-n-PAN) containing amidoxime group and ferric chloride and characterized using SEM and FTIR techniques. Finally, Fe-AO-n-PAN were used as heterogeneous catalysts for the oxidative degradation reaction of Reactive Red 195(RR 195) in water. Some factors affecting the degradation of azo dye such as catalyst loading (QFe-PAN), irradiation intensity, and H2O2 initial concentration were investigated with respect to the decoloration percentage. Additionally, the oxidative degradation of azo dye was examined by UV-Vis spectrum method and total organic carbon (TOC) measurement. The results indicated that amidoxime groups of AO-PAN were able to ligate ferric ions in solution, and increasing amidoxime groups led to the high QFe-PAN catalysts. Moreover, increasing QFe-PAN and enhancing irradiation led to high degradation rate. Fe-AO-n-PAN showed high photocatalytic activity in the solution when the initial concentration of H2O2 is at 3.0 mmol/L. UV-Vis spectrometry and TOC analysis demonstrated that the aromatic parts and conjugated structures of the dye were decomposed and gradually mineralized during its degradation under the photocatalysis of Fe-AO-n-PAN.

Key words: PAN nano-micron fibers, ferric ion, heterogeneous photocatalyst, azo dye, degradation