Decoration of conjugated polyquinoxaline dots on mesoporous TiO2 nanofibers for visible-light-driven photocatalysis

The photocatalysis of a heterostructured composite material composed of conjugated polymer dots (CPdots) on the surface of TiO2 nanofibers was investigated in terms of organic dye degradation, photooxidative coupling, and reduction under visible-light irradiation. Visible-light harvesting was used to transfer the excited electrons of the CPdots to visible-light-inactive, electrospun, mesoporous TiO2 nanofibers for photocatalysis. The CPdots were electrostatically bound to the TiO2 nanofibers and each CPdot was spatially located with some separation, and thus water and reagents could easily access the photocatalytic TiO2 nanofibers. This resulted in high efficiencies of dye degradation (97%), oxidative coupling (98%), and reduction (90%) under visible lighting. The nanofiber-based photocatalyst provided flexibility and easy handling, enabling repeated use simply by washing after the photocatalytic reaction.

Automated summary

The study explores the photocatalytic performance of a heterostructured composite material composed of conjugated polymer dots (CPdots) on the surface of TiO2 nanofibers, achieving high efficiency in organic dye degradation, oxidative coupling, and reduction reactions under visible light irradiation by transferring the excited electrons from CPdots to TiO2 nanofibers.