Waste Treats Waste: Upcycling Polyester Textile Waste into Nanofibrous Membranes with UiO-66 for Removal of Dyes

This study introduces a method for converting polyester textile waste into metal–organic framework (MOF)/nanofibrous membrane (NFM) composites for dye removal from wastewater. Our approach repurposes polyester textile waste both as a source for linkers to synthesize UiO-66 and as a polymer feedstock for producing electrospun NFMs. The MOF synthesis on polyester NFMs occurs at room temperature using a water/ethanol solvent mixture, enabled by using an alkaline disodium terephthalate (Na2BDC) linker precursor sourced from depolymerized polyester textiles. To enhance MOF integration, the surface of the electrospun polyester NFMs was roughened via acetone treatment. The roughening treatment increased UiO-66 loading by ∼55%, resulting in a maximum methylene blue (MB) adsorption capacity of 70.8 mg/g. Additionally, the adsorbent exhibited satisfactory dye adsorption performance across five consecutive adsorption–desorption cycles. This work demonstrates a practical pathway for transforming polyester textile waste into MOF/NFM composites for dye pollutant removal from wastewater.