Antibacterial and antiviral nanofibrous membranes with renewable oxidative function for high-efficiency and super-throughput water disinfection

Abstract Nano-structured membranes with great properties are promising alternatives for water purification. However, it remains a challenge to develop such materials, especially for purifying water contaminated by pathogenic microbes. In this work, a newly-designed nanofibrous membrane with rechargeable biocidal function was prepared through grafting poly(vinyl alcohol-co-ethylene) (EVOH) with poly[5,5-dimethyl-3-(3′-triethoxysilylpropyl)-hydratoin] (PSPH) in the form of electrospun nanofibers. The proposed strategy intrinsically allows the N-halamine compounds to homogeneously and covalently integrate with EVOH nanofibers, bringing the membranes efficiently antimicrobial capability and durability. Moreover, the resultant chlorinated membranes exhibit characteristics of good mechanical property, superior hydrophilicity, renewable chlorination activity (>4000 ppm) and outstanding microbicidal performance (>99.999%), suggesting the composite materials could be used as filtration layers for bacteria-contaminated water disinfection with a favorable flux (>2000 L m−2 h−1). The successful fabrication strategy provides innovative insights into exploring other antifouling nanofibrous materials in a renewable way.