Fabrication of Composite Carbon Nanofibers with Silver Particles for High-quality Membranes for Antimicrobial Water Filtration

Abstract

In this study, carbon nanofiber (CNF) composites containing silver particles at varying silver-to-carbon ratios of 0%, 10%, 20%, and 40% (denoted as CNF, CNF@Ag-10, CNF@Ag-20, and CNF@Ag-40, respectively) were fabricated using the electrospinning technique. Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) solutions, with silver nitrate (AgNO3) as a precursor at concentrations of 10%, 20%, and 40%, were dissolved in dimethylformamide (DMF) to produce the fibers. These fibers were subsequently calcined to form carbon nanocomposites embedded with silver nanoparticles. The resulting fibers, with average diameters ranging from 527 to 750 nm, incorporated silver nanoparticles measuring between 6 and 35 nm. The membranes derived from these fibers exhibited filtration rates of 7.9 to 14.3 cm³/min and effectively inhibited Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Enterobacter, achieving microbial reductions of 59.46% to 98.23%. The antimicrobial performance of the CNF@Ag composites was found to increase with higher silver doping concentration.