State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructures, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1295 Dingxi Road, Shanghai 200050, PR China.
Nanoscale. 2013 Jun 7;5(11):5036-42. doi: 10.1039/c3nr00503h. Epub 2013 May 2.
This work demonstrates a novel multifunctional nanofibrous mat for photocatalytic applications based on TiO2 nanocables functionalized by Ag nanoparticles and coated with a thin (~2 nm) graphitic shell. In this mat, which was realized by an electrospinning technique, each component serves a unique function: the carbon coating acts as both an adsorption material for capturing pollutants and as a charge-transfer material, the Ag nanoparticles act as a visible-light sensitizing agent and also as a charge-transfer material, finally the TiO2 nanocable mat acts as a UV sensitive photocatalytic matrix and as the flexible substrate for the other functional components. This multicomponent nanocable mat exhibits excellent photocatalytic activity under simulated solar irradiation for the degradation of model pollutants including RhB and phenol. The significant photocatalytic properties are attributed to the synergetic effect of the three functional components and the unique charge transport "freeway" property of the nanofibrous mat. In addition, the porous carbon coating infiltrated into the nanocable matrix endows the mat with excellent flexibility and enables robust, large-area (10 × 10 cm) fabrication, representing a significant advantage over previous brittle ceramic nanofibrous mat photocatalyst substrates. This study provides new insight into the design and preparation of an advanced, yet commercially practical and scaleable photocatalytic composite membrane material. The as-prepared photocatalytic mat might also be of interest in solar cell, catalysis, separation technology, biomedical engineering, and nanotechnology.
这项工作展示了一种基于 TiO2 纳米电缆的新型多功能纳米纤维垫，该纳米电缆由 Ag 纳米粒子功能化，并涂覆有一层约 2nm 的石墨壳。在这种通过静电纺丝技术实现的纤维垫中，每个组件都具有独特的功能：碳涂层既可以作为捕获污染物的吸附材料，也可以作为电荷转移材料；Ag 纳米粒子既可以作为可见光敏化剂，也可以作为电荷转移材料；最后，TiO2 纳米电缆垫既可以作为 UV 敏感光催化基质，也可以作为其他功能组件的柔性基底。在模拟太阳光照射下，这种多组分纳米电缆垫对 RhB 和苯酚等模型污染物的降解表现出优异的光催化活性。显著的光催化性能归因于三种功能组件的协同效应和纳米纤维垫独特的电荷传输“高速公路”特性。此外，渗透到纳米电缆基质中的多孔碳涂层赋予了纤维垫优异的柔韧性，并能够实现坚固、大面积（10×10cm）的制造，这是对以前易碎陶瓷纳米纤维垫光催化剂基底的重大改进。本研究为先进但商业实用和可扩展的光催化复合膜材料的设计和制备提供了新的思路。所制备的光催化垫在太阳能电池、催化、分离技术、生物医学工程和纳米技术中可能也具有吸引力。
