Free-standing poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(acrylic acid) (PVA/PAA) membranes with polydopamine (PDA) coating were prepared based on the combination of electrospinning and self-polymerization of dopamine. This is a facile, mild, controllable, and low-energy consumption process without any rigorous restriction to reactive conditions. Benefiting from the high specific surface area of electrospun membranes and the abundant "adhesive" functional groups of polydopamine, the as-prepared membranes exhibit efficient adsorption performance towards methyl blue with the adsorption capacity reaching up to 1147.6 mg g(-1). Moreover, compared to other nanoparticle adsorbents, the as-prepared self-standing membrane is highly flexible, easy to operate and retrieve, and most importantly, easy to elute, and regenerate, which enable its potential applications in wastewater treatment. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.