In Situ Growth of Silver Nanoparticles in Electrospun Polyvinylidene Fluoride Composite Membranes for Photocatalytic Degradation of Dyes and Antibiotics

Photocatalytic degradation technology has been widely acknowledged for its low cost and high degradation efficiency. However, the loss, migration and difficult recovery of powdered catalysts are still critical bottlenecks for practical applications. In this study, silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs)/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) photocatalytic composite membranes were in situ fabricated by incorporating AgNO3 into a PVDF casting solution, followed by electrospinning and UV post-treatment. The resulting membranes exhibited sustained photocatalytic capability towards dyes and antibiotics. The optimal membrane achieved 89.6% and 83.0% degradation efficiency for chloramphenicol (CAP) and rhodamine B within 16 h under UV irradiation, respectively. Free radical trapping experiments revealed that the superoxide radical (·O2−) dominated the photocatalytic degradation of CAP, and the mechanism of photocatalytic degradation was explored. Additionally, the Ag NPs/PVDF photocatalytic membrane demonstrated a distinct antibacterial efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) with a distinct inhibition zone of 20 mm, effectively inhibiting bacterial proliferation.