Vol.:(0123456789) Polymer Bulletin https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-019-02919-4 1 3 ORIGINAL PAPER The application of green synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles embedded in polyethylene terephthalate nanofbers in the study of the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue Suhad A. Yasin 1  · Jamal A. Abbas 1  · Ibtisam A. Saeed 1  · Idrees H. Ahmed 1 Received: 3 April 2019 / Revised: 24 July 2019 / Accepted: 20 August 2019 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract In this study, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) nanofbers are dipped into the extrac- tion of pomegranate leaves (Punica granatum) in aqueous solution operated as a reducing agent to fabricate PET nanofbers with CuO nanoparticles, which are used later for the photocatalytic degradation methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution. Scanning electron microscopy analysis is used to study the surface nanofber mor- phology. UV–visible spectrophotometry is used to determine the concentration of (MB) after photodegradation. Photodegradation of (MB) in this study has shown that the degradation efciency is afected by many factors like time, pH, and con- centration. The results have proved that PET nanofbers/CuO nanoparticles acquire high photodegradation efciency in a short time. Keywords Nanofbers · Electrospinning · Green synthesis · Methylene blue · Photocatalytic degradation Introduction Organic dye pollutants are produced by fabric, leather, and cosmetics production sign- aling a signifcant environmental concern [1]. The problem which the world is facing now is that organic dyes generally have a complex aromatic structure and can display anionic, cationic, and non-ionic properties [2]. These dyes are methylene blue (MB), crystal violet (CV), rhodamine B (RhB), methyl orange (MO), Congo red (CR), and Remazol Black-B (RB5) [3]. The colors of these organic dyes can be observed even at low concentration, making water highly unfavorable, which is risky to human health and the environment [4]. Over 10,000 diferent types of organic dyes and pigments, * Suhad A. Yasin suhad.yasin@uod.ac 1 College of Science, University of Duhok, Duhok 42001, Iraq