Abstract
TiO2/carbon fiber composite is achieved by loading TiO2 nanoparticles on biomass carbon fiber, which originates from the carbonized natural bast. The carbonized process and the loading amount of TiO2 are researched in detail. It is found that the carbonized bast fiber shows robust adsorption characteristics for TiO2 nanoparticles in aqueous dispersion, and TiO2 nanoparticles with ~15 wt.% in total weight are uniformly loaded onto the fiber surface. The photocatalytic properties of TiO2/carbon fiber composite are evaluated by photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B and water splitting for hydrogen production. The results indicate that 90% RhB molecules could be attacked in 60 min under UV light irradiation, and the hydrogen production rate of water splitting is up to 338.51 μmol/h. The highlight is that TiO2/carbon fiber composite is easy to be recycled due to the incorporation of macroscopical biomass carbon fiber.
Highlights
Since Fujishima and Honda reported the groundbreaking research work on splitting water to produce hydrogen on TiO2 electrode [1], the photocatalysis had aroused great interest
1580 cm−1, which are consistent with the Raman shift peaks of carbon [19]. This indicates that natural bast fiber has been transformed into inorganic carbon fiber after 300°C
There is a lot of hollow structure on the surface of biomass carbon fiber, which is in favor of enhancing the adhesion and loading amount of TiO2 nanoparticles on carbon fiber
Summary
Since Fujishima and Honda reported the groundbreaking research work on splitting water to produce hydrogen on TiO2 electrode [1], the photocatalysis had aroused great interest. Carbon fiber is a kind of one-dimensional carbon material with excellent properties, such as high tensile strength, low weight, high chemical resistance, high temperature tolerance, and excellent electrical conductivity, making them very popular in many fields. Commercialized carbon fiber is relatively expensive due to the raw materials and fabrication process, which is not conducive to the photocatalyst application in the wide range. Biomass fiber carbonization is a feasible route to obtain low-cost carbon fiber, which can meet some applications with no high requirement on mechanical behavior, such as photocatalyst and solar cells. The electrical conductivity, high temperature resistance, and the chemical and physical adsorptions of bast fiber are disadvantageous. Because bast fiber is widely accessible and low cost, the biomass carbon fiber using bast fiber as a raw material has great advantages in practical application of catalyst carrier. A theoretical model was proposed to explain the photocatalytic mechanism of the composites
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