Mesoporous Fe2O3-doped TiO2 nanostructured fibers with higher photocatalytic activity

Mesoporous Fe2O3-doped TiO2 nanostructured fibers were fabricated through electrospinning the relevant gel precursor. The prepared fibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and surface analysis, respectively. The photocatalytic activity of these mesoporous composite fibers was evaluated by photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) in water under UV irradiation. Compared with different types of photocatalysts, the 1% Fe2O3-doped TiO2 fibers exhibited super photocatalytic activity. Crown Copyright (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.