Scalable fabrication of rechargeable photoactive cellulose nanofibrous membranes for efficient degradation of dyes

Construction of photoactive nanofibrous membranes for effective treatment of dyeing effluents is critical to meet the great demands of environmental protection in textile industry, yet still remains a big challenge. In this work, we report a cost-effective strategy to create rechargeable photoactive cellulose nanofibrous membranes (BPTCD-CeNM) under mild conditions that can effectively and repeatedly produce hydroxyl radicals for dye degradation. The principle of this design is that BPTCD-CeNM could store photoactivity under UV light irradiation and release hydroxyl radicals under dark conditions. The membranes possess an ultra-fine fiber diameter (275 nm), large surface area (3.06 m² g⁻¹) and excellent degradation performance for reactive red 195, reactive yellow 4 and acid blue 7 (> 99.99% within 60 min). The successful fabrication of such materials may open up new avenues for designing and constructing highly efficient photoactive membrane materials for environmental applications.