Selective adsorption and separation of methylene blue from wastewater by self-standing polyvinylpyrrolidone and SiO2 electrospun membranes

•PVP-SiO2-D spun membrane was used as high capacity adsorbent of MB.•The selective adsorption and regeneration ability of the membrane were excellent.•The membrane can be used as filter to treat flowing and complex wastewater.•The removal rate toward flowing MB solution was more than 95 %.•Adsorption forces were studied by simulated calculation and control experiments.