Fabrication of Electrospun Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube/TiO2 Nanofiber

Abstract

Nanocomposites carbon nanotube (CNT)/TiO2 nanofibers have been prepared by electrospinning. A mixed solution of titanium(IV) tetraisopropoxide (TTIP), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), and CNT were electrospun at 15 kV with 1 mL/h of flow rate and 10 cm for the distance between needle-tip and collector. The resulted fibers were calcined at 450 °C for 2 h to remove all the PVP. TiO2 and CNT/TiO2 nanofibers were characterized using X-ray Diffraction and SEM. The XRD analysis showed diffraction patterns for anatase TiO2 with a diameter of ~81 nm. As combined with CNT, the fiber diameter increased to be 200-400 nm. The composite fiber of CNT/TiO2 demonstrated enhanced photocatalytic performance for methylene blue photodegradation (~70%) under UV-light irradiation for 2 h compared to pristine TiO2 nanofiber (~50%).