Fabrication of Ag/TiO2/Fe2TiO5 nanofibers by electrospinning and their enhanced photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Herein, Ag/TiO2/Fe2TiO5 nanofiber composites with different contents of Ag were prepared using electrospinning with a calcining process. The structure and morphology of Ag/TiO2/Fe2TiO5 were characterized by TG-DTA, FT-IR, XRD, and SEM. The results shown that the organic template was completely decomposed at about 670°C. It can also find the rutile and anatase TiO2 coexisted in TiO2 nanofibers, but the peaks of anatase TiO2 disappeared in Fe2TiO5/TiO2. In addition, when Ag added in the Fe2TiO5/TiO2, the peaks of Fe2TiO5 and TiO2 have been strengthened greatly. It can conclude that the Fe3+ and Ag+ have an opposite effect on the crystal growing of the sample. In addition, the Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) were well distributed in the surface of TiO2/Fe2TiO5. The UV-Vis DRS and electrochemical tests indicated that the light absorption and carries separation of Ag/TiO2/Fe2TiO5 were enhanced obviously. Since the surface plasmon resonance effect of AgNPs and synergistic effect, the as-prepared composite (the content of Ag was 3% mol) show a higher photocatalytic performance in degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB 99.6%) than that of pure-TiO2 and TiO2/Fe2TiO5.