Photocatalytic Activity of Electrospun PAN/TiO₂Nanofibers in Dye Photodecomposition

Abstract

Poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) nanofibers containing different amounts of titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) have been prepared by electrospinning technique. Photocatalytic activity of these electrospun PAN/$TiO_2$ nanofibers and the effect of $TiO_2$ content on the photocatalytic efficiency of PAN/$TiO_2$ nanofibers have been evaluated by monitoring the photodecomposition of fluorescein dye, rhodamine B and methylene blue under UV irradiation with respect to irradiation time. Moreover, the effect of hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$) on the photocatalytic behavior of PAN/$TiO_2$ nanofibers has also been investigated. The results showed that PAN/$TiO_2$ nanofibers are effective photocatalyst and their photocatalytic efficiency increases with the increase of $TiO_2$ content in the PAN/$TiO_2$ nanofibers. It is also observed that the presence of $H_2O_2$ significantly enhances the photocatalytic ability of PAN/$TiO_2$ nanofibers. The morphology and the photocatalytic behavior of the PAN/$TiO_2$ nanofibers containing different amounts of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles have been investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and UV/Visible spectroscopy, respectively.