Preparation of pod-shaped TiO2 and Ag@TiO2 nano burst tubes and their photocatalytic activity

Abstract

The pod-shaped TiO2 nano burst tubes (TiO2 NBTs) were prepared by the combination of electrospinning and impregnation calcination with oxalic acid (H2C2O4), polystyrene (PS) and tetrabutyl titanate. The silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were loaded onto the surface of TiO2 NBTs by ultraviolet light reduction method to prepare pod-shaped Ag@TiO2 NBTs. In this work, we analysed the effect of the amount of oxalic acid on the cracking degree of TiO2 NBTs; the effect of the concentration of AgNO3 solution on the particle size and loading of AgNPs on the surface of TiO2 NBTs. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy investigated the surface morphology of samples. X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterized the structure and composition of samples. Rhodamine B (RhB) solution was used to evaluate the photocatalytic activity of pod-shaped TiO2 NBTs and Ag@TiO2 NBTs. The results showed that TiO2 NBTs degraded 91.0% of RhB under ultraviolet light, Ag@TiO2 NBTs degraded 95.5% under visible light for 75 and 60 min, respectively. The degradation process of both samples was consistent with the Langmuir–Hinshelwood first-order kinetic equation. Therefore, the catalytic performance of the sample is: Ag@TiO2 NBTs > TiO2 NBTs > TiO2 nanotubes.

Keywords

• nanocomposites
• pod-shaped
• tio2
• morphology control
• photocatalysis