Abstract
Non-woven fibers were produced by sol-gel and electrospinning methods, from a solution containing cerium nitrate, zinc acetate, titanium isopropoxide, polyvinylpyrrolidone, acetic acid, ethanol, and water. The fibers were calcined at various temperatures ranging from 300 to 900 °C and were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), Raman spectroscopy, Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Structural characterization revealed the fluorite nanocrystalline phase of ceria (CeO2) at all temperatures, the wurtzite zinc oxide (ZnO) phase in the 300–500 °C range, and a variety of zinc titanate phases (such as ZnTiO3, Zn2Ti3O8 and Zn2TiO4) at higher temperatures. Titania (TiO2) phases were not observed following calcination up to 900 °C. The average ceria nanocrystallite size increases with calcination temperature, as revealed by XRD and confirmed by the Phonon Confinement Model (PCM) of Raman spectra. The opposite trend is observed for the BET specific surface area of the nanofibers, where this value decreases with calcination temperatures above 400 °C. These nanofibers containing ceria and zinc titanates are potential candidates for photocatalytic applications.
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