Heterogeneous catalyst-mediated photocatalysis is widely acknowledged as a highly promising approach for the efficient degradation of persistent antibiotics in water. In this study, a hydrophilic Cu2O/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) porous nanofiber membrane was synthesized by the electrospinning technique combined with a convenient poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-assisted template-removal method for photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline (TC). The Cu2O/PAN porous nanofibers (NFs) exhibited excellent photocatalytic degradation activity under visible-light irradiation, with degradation efficiencies and kinetic constants that were approximately 1.55-fold and 2.35-fold higher than those of nonporous Cu2O/PAN NFs, respectively. This enhancement resulted from a greater exposure of active components and a more hydrophilic fiber structure. Moreover, this composite fiber demonstrated exceptional stability, still maintaining a TC degradation rate of over 95% even after eight cycles, effectively addressing the instability and poor recyclability issues of Cu2O nanoparticles (NPs). In addition, this multifunctional nanofiber exhibited outstanding antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli, achieving over 99% bacterial inhibition with a minimal nanofiber dosage under dark conditions. This work provides profound insights into the rational design and scalable fabrication of the porous multifunctional nanofiber membranes, thereby laying a solid foundation for the practical applications in water purification and antimicrobial materials.
Bai et al. (2026) studied this question.