Properties and arsenic removal evaluation of polyvinyl alcohol nanofibers with embedded strontium hexaferrite nanoparticles

This work deals with the study of physical properties exhibited the polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fabricated as a nanofiber composite with embedded strontium hexaferrite nanoparticles (SrM-NPs). The nanofibers obtained from electrospinning have 165 nm average diameter, and the nanoparticles obtained from the sol-gel Pechini method have 78 nm diameter. A low-frequency sonication treatment performed to these nanoparticles allowed to deagglomerate and to reduce their size up to obtain 3.4 nm average diameter. Also, the magnetic nanoparticles exhibit an arrangement along the PVA nanofiber because of the nanoparticles interact with the electric field generated during the electrospinning. This arrangement improves the magnetic properties of the composite in comparison with the bulk nanoparticles. Also, the interaction of strontium hexaferrite nanoparticles with the PVA matrix induces changes on its physical properties, as well as on the ability of nanofibers to uptake arsenic from water.