Photocatalytic Self Cleaning Textile Fibers by Coaxial Electrospinning

Abstract

Photocatalytic self-cleaning textile fibers have been created using coaxial electrospinning. This is accomplished by electrospinning cellulose acetate as the core phase and a dispersion of nanocrystalline TiO2, a well-known photocatalyst, in the sheath phase. A simple deacetylation step after the initial electrospinning yields self-cleaning textile fibers. Self-cleaning activity is exhibited at moderate power densities in indoor lighting conditions. Nanofibers created from coaxial electrospinning outperform TiO2 surface-loaded nanofibers obtained by conventional electrospinning. Surface-loaded fibers degrade blue dye stains only to a minimum of 20% of the initial concentration, whereas fibers created by coaxial electrospinning fully degrade stains (in 7−8 h).