Development of Cu@Zr-MOFs-PAN Nanofiber Composites for Efficient Methylene Blue Adsorption in Wastewater Treatment

Methylene blue (MB) is a commonly used dye that generates a large amount of dye wastewater during its application. If discharged untreated, it poses a serious threat to water environments and human health. Therefore, the removal of methylene blue from dye wastewater is crucial. In this study, we used zirconium-based metal–organic frameworks (Zr-MOFs) as a precursor and doped them with copper ions to prepare the Cu@Zr-MOFs composite material. Subsequently, we fabricated Cu@Zr-MOFs-PAN nanofiber composites through electrospinning to address the challenge of separating Cu@Zr-MOFs from water. The results indicate that the introduction of copper ions significantly enhances the adsorption capacity of Zr-MOFs for MB, increasing the adsorption amount from 158.0 mg/g to 266.0 mg/g, representing a 68.3% improvement. Furthermore, the prepared Cu@Zr-MOFs-PAN nanofibers exhibited an MB adsorption capacity of 162.1 mg/g, further confirming the successful preparation of Cu@Zr-MOFs-PAN. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis shows that copper doping not only enhances the structural stability of the material but also increases the density of active sites for MB adsorption. This study not only provides an efficient material for the removal of MB from wastewater but also offers an important theoretical basis for the design of novel nanomaterials for environmental pollutant remediation.