Preparation of TiO<sub>2</sub>/WO<sub>3</sub>/C/N Composite Nanofibers by Electrospinning Using Precursors Soluble in Water and Their Photocatalytic Activity in Visible Light
Vincent Otieno Odhiambo,
Chra Rasool M. Mustafa,
Le Ba Thong,
Zoltán Kónya,
Csaba Cserháti,
Zoltán Erdélyi,
István Endre Lukác,
Imre Miklós Szilágyi
Affiliations
Vincent Otieno Odhiambo
Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Szent Gellért tér 4., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
Chra Rasool M. Mustafa
Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Szent Gellért tér 4., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
Le Ba Thong
Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Szent Gellért tér 4., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
Zoltán Kónya
Department of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, University of Szeged, Rerrich Béla tér 1., H-6720 Szeged, Hungary
Csaba Cserháti
Department of Solid-State Physics, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Debrecen, Bem ter 18/b, H-4026 Debrecen, Hungary
Zoltán Erdélyi
Department of Solid-State Physics, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Debrecen, Bem ter 18/b, H-4026 Debrecen, Hungary
István Endre Lukác
Research Institute for Technical Physics and Materials Science, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Konkoly Thege M. út 29-33., H-1121 Budapest, Hungary
Imre Miklós Szilágyi
Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Szent Gellért tér 4., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
Extending the absorption range of TiO2 nanofibers to visible light is a great improvement of the photocatalytic property of TiO2. In this study, TiO2/WO3/C/N nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning using precursors soluble in water then annealing in argon. Titanium(IV) bis(ammonium lactato)dihydroxide (TiBALDH) and ammonium metatungstate (AMT) were used as the precursor for TiO2 and WO3 respectively. Different volume ratios of the precursors were added to a solution of PVP before electrospinning. The fibers were studied by XPS, SEM-EDX, TEM, FTIR, XRD, Raman spectroscopy and UV–VIS diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue by the fibers in visible light was investigated. The fibers had anatase TiO2 and monoclinic WO3. Based on UV–VIS DRS and Kubelka-Munk function the fibers could absorb visible light. Moreover, 100% TiBALDH had an indirect band gap of 2.9 eV, and the band gap decreased with increase in AMT, i.e., for 0% TiBALDH, band gap was 2.4 eV. The fibers degraded methylene blue dye in visible light, and 90% TiBALDH had the highest photocatalytic activity, i.e., it degraded 40% of the dye after 240 min.
