Electrospun Nanofibrous Cellulose Acetate/Curcumin Membranes for Fast Detection of Pb Ions

Abstract

Fast detection of Pb²⁺ pollution has become an important issue in the environment field and food industry. In this work, electrospun nanofibrous cellulose acetate/curcumin membranes (ENCACMs) and pure cellulose acetate (CA) membranes were fabricated by the electrospinning technique. Then the fast detection of heavy metals by these membranes was observed by naked eyes and digital camera. Fabricated ENCACMs showed obvious selectivity to the Pb²⁺ at pH 9. Pb²⁺ detection sensitivity of ENCACMs with a thickness of 0.2 mm was 1 mM (limit of detection) at pH 9. The sensitivity depended on the pH of solution and membrane thickness. However, it was not incubation time dependent. This work provides a simple, cheap, and fast method for detecting Pb²⁺. Moreover, this method is environmentally friendly to the detection solution and is simply post-treated after the detection process.