Electrospun flexible self-standing silica/mesoporous alumina core–shell fibrous membranes as adsorbents toward Congo red

Abstract

Flexible core–shell fibrous membranes for mesoporous alumina-based adsorbents have been fabricated via a one-step coaxial electrospinning, which was accomplished by electrospinning silica as the core phase and mesoporous alumina as the shell phase. The core–shell fibers could be directly electrospun in the form of membranes. After calcination, a mesoporous alumina shell formed to give a high adsorption capacity, and the core fibers became dense to provide good mechanical property of the membrane. The membranes exhibit good adsorption properties toward Congo red and also can maintain the membrane form during the cyclic test, which makes them easy to handle and retrieve. The good adsorption performance, high mechanical property, easy recovery and reuse characteristic of the fibrous membranes, as well as their easy to scale-up fabrication process all facilitate their practical application in environmental remediation.