Abstract
The work described below was carried out to understand how to control the morphology of nanostructured titania calcined from electrospun nanofibers. This is the first report of hollow rutile nanofibers synthesized from electrospun nanofibers with short calcination time. Titanium isopropoxide was incorporated into the nanofibers as the titania precursor. The electrospinning technique was used to fabricate ceramic/polymer hybrid nanofibers. The electrospun nanofibers were then calcined to produce rutile titania nanofibers with different morphologies (hollow or solid nanofibers), which were characterized by SEM and TEM. The initial concentration of ceramic precursor and the calcination time were shown to control the morphology of the nanofiber. The hollow morphology was only obtained with a concentration of the precursor within a certain level and with short calcination times. The heat treatment profile contributed to particle growth. At longer times, the particle growth led to the closure of the hollow core and all the nanofibers resembled strings of solid particles. A formation mechanism for the hollow nanofibers is also proposed.
Highlights
Spinneret Electrospinning withOne-dimensional titania nanostructures have been used in different applications based on their morphology
Experimental results have been presented that provide a method for producing rutile Experimental results have been presented that provide a method for producing rutile titania nanofibers with controlled morphology
Results indicate that the concentration of titania nanofibers with controlled morphology
Summary
One-dimensional titania nanostructures have been used in different applications based on their morphology. One-dimensional TiO2 structures are typically categorized into one of several morphologies, including nanotubes, nanorods, nanowires, and nanofibers. Nanotubes and nanorods are straighter, whereas nanofibers and nanowires have significant curvature [9,10]. Nanotubes can be produced as either singlelayer [11] or asymmetric multi-layer tubes [12] depending on the synthesis technique. Titania nanorods [15] are believed to provide an effective and long-distance electron-transport pathway for photogenerated electrons. The applications vary significantly depending on the fiber and grain size [18,19,20,21]
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