Preparation And Photocatalytic Activity Of N-type Oxide Semiconductor Micro-nano Materials By Electrospinning

Nano-material has become a hot studied subject due to its superior optical acoustic,electrical, magnetic, thermal and mechanical properties. Because of their uniquecharacteristics such as high specific surface area, nano-fibre prepared by electro- spinninghas attracted the attention of scientists all over the world. There has been an intenseinterest in the research on n- type oxide semiconsuctor such as TiO₂, ZnO for photocatalictys applications.This paper presents a complete study reporting the impact of the change a number ofunprecedented process parameters such as polymer concentration, solvent content,flow-rate, applied voltage, distance between needle tip and collector. Fiber diametergradually and steadily increased as the applied voltage augmented, decreased as thedistance between needle and collector was enlarged, and increased with higher flow-rates.The humidity of the surroundings may also play an important role in determining themorphology of the electrospun nanofibers.Sol-gel method was applied to perpare the precursor slolution using polymer (PVP orPAA)and inorganic salts as an starting materials. The electrospingning was used tofabricate PVP/Ti(0C₄H₉)₄, PVP/ Ti(OC₄H₉)₄/Zn(CH₃COO)₂, PAA/ Ti(OC₄H₉)₄ compositenanofiers.TiO₂, TiO₂/ZnO, PI/TiO₂ were obtained by calcinations of the above compositenanofibers.The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction(xrd), Scanning electronmicroscope(SEM), Thermogravimetric anslysis(TG-DTA), Fourier transform infraredspectra(FTIR).All the results show that TiO₂ fibres with diameters of 50-200 nm are obtained. TheTiO₂ fibres calcined at 400℃possess an optimal photocatalytic efficiency.TiO₂/ZnO fibres with diameters of 200-300 nm were obtained. The ZnO and Zn₂TiO₄phases were observed as the heat-treatment temperature rise. The fibres calcined at 600℃possess an optimal photocatalytic efficiency. PI/TiO₂ fibers with diameters of 200-300 nm were obtained by certain heat treatment.They possess a good photocatalytic, and the PI/TiO₂ with 20wt% TiO₂ possess an optimalphotocatalytic efficiency.The study demonstrates that our method offers a brand-new way for fabricating theoxide semi-conductor applied for photocatalysis.