The preparation of continuous CeO2/CuO/Al2O3 ultrafine fibers by electro-blowing spinning (EBS) and its photocatalytic activity

Abstract

CeO2/CuO/Al2O3 catalyst has attracted considerable attention due to its higher activity and better selectivity at lower reaction temperature in comparison with commercial catalysts, and it has exhibited potential applications in water gas shift reaction and exhaust gas treatment. In this paper, the continuous CeO2/CuO/Al2O3 ultrafine fibers were prepared by electro-blown spinning method followed by a calcination process. The as-spun fibers were formed with solvent evaporation under the drawing of air flow and electrostatic force. The diameters of fibers could be regulated by changing the parameters, such as PVP content, gas pressure, voltage and injection rate, etc. These fibers could be subsequently converted into CeO2/CuO/Al2O3 ultrafine fibers via calcination in air at 400 °C. The presence of Al2O3 made the more flexibility of CeO2/CuO/Al2O3 fibers and well inhibited the crystal growth of CeO2 and CuO during the calcination process. Most importantly, CuO could be highly dispersed into CeO2, which provide a higher content of surface oxygen vacancies and should empirically benefit the catalytic process. Therefore, CeO2/CuO/Al2O3 composite fibers exhibited the excellent catalytic efficiency in dye degradation, and the utilization efficiency of solar light was effectively enhanced by the loading CuO into the materials. In addition, the mass production of CeO2/CuO/Al2O3 ultrafine fiber catalysts might be realized by this novel method.