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High reusability and durability of carbon-doped TiO2/carbon nanofibrous film as visible-light-driven photocatalyst

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Abstract

The light response range, reusability, and durability of photocatalyst are the key issues for its practical application. To address these problems, the C-doped TiO2/carbon nanofibrous (CTCNF) film with incorporation of C-doped TiO2 nanoparticles into carbon nanofibers was prepared by electrospinning and calcination (pre-oxidation and carbonization). All the obtained CTCNF films exhibited a promising light absorption in ultraviolet–visible region. With optimization of carbonization temperature, the CTCNF film carbonized at 800 °C (CTCNF-800) showed a strongest light absorption. Consequently, the CTCNF-800 possessed a highest photocatalytic degradation efficiency of 94.2% for degradation of rhodamine B. In addition, the CTCNF-800 possessed excellent flexibility and deserved mechanical strength, and hence, the CTCNF-800 could be easily segregated from solution and recycled. Satisfyingly, its degradation efficiency still exceeded 92% after using for six cycles, implying that the CTCNF had excellent reusability and well stability. Besides, the degradation efficiency was over 90% after the CTCNF-800 kept in air without illumination for 1 year, indicating its outstanding durability. The CTCNF film photocatalyst demonstrates tremendous potential in practical application for purification of wastewater.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Program for Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LZ16E020002); Science Foundation (17012144-Y); and Program of Key Laboratory of Advanced Textile Materials and Manufacturing Technology, Ministry of Education (2017QN04) of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Advanced Textile Materials and Manufacturing Technology of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China

    Lixin Song & Jie Xiong

  2. College of Materials and Textiles, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China

    Lixin Song, Wanru Jing, Jingjing Chen, Shouren Zhang, Yuqing Zhu & Jie Xiong

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  1. Lixin Song
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  2. Wanru Jing
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  3. Jingjing Chen
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  4. Shouren Zhang
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  6. Jie Xiong
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Correspondence to Lixin Song or Jie Xiong.

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Song, L., Jing, W., Chen, J. et al. High reusability and durability of carbon-doped TiO2/carbon nanofibrous film as visible-light-driven photocatalyst. J Mater Sci 54, 3795–3804 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-3105-7

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