Abstract
Electrospinning was successfully used for the one-step fabrication of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) fibers loaded with an inorganic photocatalyst—titanium oxide (TiO2). By tuning the PMMA/TiO2 ratio and the electrospinning conditions (applied voltage, needle tip-to-collector distance, and flow rates), PMMA/TiO2 composites with selected organic/inorganic ratios, tailored designs, and targeted properties were obtained. The morphology of the electrospun composites was affected by the amount of TiO2 incorporated into the PMMA fibers. In addition, the inorganic photocatalyst had an impact on the wettability, thermal stability, and optical properties of the electrospun composites. In particular, the surface wettability of the composites was strongly influenced by UV light irradiation and from hydrophobic became superhydrophilic. Moreover, PMMA/TiO2 composites had enhanced tensile strength in comparison with those of bare PMMA mats. The electrospun PMMA/TiO2 composites showed excellent photocatalytic efficiency against the model organic pollutant—methylene blue—which is very promising for the future development of membranes that are highly efficacious for photocatalytic water treatment.
Highlights
The creation of cost-effective and advanced materials for water treatment is an ongoing challenge
The focus of the present work was on the fabrication of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) fibers filled with significant amounts of TiO2 and studying the effect of the inorganic photocatalyst on the properties of the obtained electrospun PMMA/TiO2 composites with respect to their targeted application
Koysuren et al reported the synthesis of TiO2 particles by the sol–gel process, their calcination and immobilization in PMMA fibers by electrospinning [18]
Summary
The creation of cost-effective and advanced materials for water treatment is an ongoing challenge. Various studies have revealed that poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is an appropriate host matrix for these photocatalysts because of its excellent transparency to light, good environmental inertness, chemical and thermal stability, and relatively low cost [10,11,12] This is why PMMA-based composite films have played a major role in the preparation of light emitting diodes (LED), supercapacitors, optical lenses, sensors, catalysts, etc. Electrospun materials based on poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) and TiO2 with tailored designs have displayed an excellent stability and been shown to be able to preserve their photocatalytic activity almost completely In this context, in the present study commercially available TiO2 nanoparticles were dispersed into PMMA solution in order to prepare composite PMMA fibers filled with TiO2 in one step through electrospinning. The optical properties, photocatalytic activity when using methylene blue as a model organic pollutant, and reusability of the composites were evaluated with respect to targeted application
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