Fabrication of PVA/graphene oxide/TiO2 composite nanofibers through electrospinning and interface sol–gel reaction: Effect of graphene oxide on PVA nanofibers and growth of TiO2

Abstract

Electrospun TiO2 nanofibers with desired structures and high specific surface area are expected to be used in various applications such as dye-sensitized solar cell, environmental purification, hydrogen production and photocatalytic filter. In this work, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers doped with different amount of graphene oxide (GO) were fabricated by electrospinning method. Followed with interface sol–gel reaction, the PVA/GO/TiO2 core–shell fibers were obtained. The experimental results indicate that GO-doping decreased the decomposition temperature and elongation at break of PVA nanofibers, at the same time, increased the degree of crystallinity and tensile strength. The GO-doped PVA nanofibers could be used as hard template to assist the growth of TiO2. In the experiment, the incorporation of GO can help to control the growth of TiO2 on PVA fibers, which is a key point for preparing GO doped PVA/TiO2 core–shell fibers. The ideal micromorphology and structure of TiO2 will benefit its applications in various fields.