Fabrication of MgTiO3 nanofibers by electrospinning and their photocatalytic water splitting activity

Abstract

The photocatalytic H2 evolution from water splitting is a promising process for generating renewable energy. In regard of the fascinating properties of the one-dimensional (1D) nanostructure, when used as photocatalyst, we report the synthesis of MgTiO3 1D nanofibers by the electrospinning technique and the investigations of their photocatalytic performance. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) corporately confirmed the successful fabrication of pure MgTiO3 nanofibers. By contrast, the MgTiO3 nanoparticles obtained via sol-gel method still contains impurities because of the inhomogeneous crystallization. The MgTiO3 nanofibers exhibited enhanced efficiency and stability in photocatalytic H2 generation under ultraviolet light, compared with the MgTiO3 nanoparticles and P25. The photoelectrochemical measurements further revealed that MgTiO3 nanofibers facilitated the transport and separation of the photoinduced charge carriers, mainly resulting from their special 1D structure, unique mesh morphology, large specific surface area and pure phase.