Use of Photoactive Polyoxometalates Encapsulated in Electrospun Polyamide Membranes for Water Remediation

The modern society is facing a number of challenges related to health, sustainability, and environmental protection described as sustainable development goals (SDGs) at Agenda 2030. In this context, advanced functional materials are proving to be great candidates to overcome some of these goals. The last decades have shown a significant research effort in the field of polymers for pollutant remediation (SDGs 6, 14 and 15), due to their price, the ease of processing them into various shapes and the existence of materials with a broad range of physical, mechanical, chemical, and thermal properties. These aspects make polymeric materials promising candidates for hybrid organic-inorganic materials. When it comes to inorganic components, polyoxometalates (POMs) are nanometric and anionic metal-oxo clusters formed by early transition metals (traditionally, V, Mo and W). Due to their structural and chemical characteristics, they are useful for photooxidation catalysts for organic and inorganic contaminants removal.

Herein, we report the electrospun of a hybrid membrane based on the encapsulation of Keggin type polyoxometalate (A[α-XW₁₂O₄₀] (A=H₄, X=Si; A=K₄H₂, X=Co) and K₄H₂[α-Co(H₂O)SiW₁₁O₃₉]) in different concentrations in polyamide 66 because of its great mechanic properties and its natural adsorption of organic dye pollutants. The adsorption and photoreduction measurements in the presence of water with organic dies, such as PAHs, are being carried out in order to study if this hybrid materials could remove pollutants from contaminated water and contribute to the clean water strategy.