Tailored fabrication of TiO2@carbon nanofibers composites via foaming agent migration

摘要

Based on the merits and demerits of conventional methods for fabricating TiO2@carbon nanofibers (TiO2@CNFs) composites, the composites were prepared via a foaming-assisted electrospinning strategy and subsequent thermal treatment. Betaine was used as the foaming agent and assembled with TiO2 before electrospinning. It was found that the foaming agent of betaine introduced within the solutions played a crucial role on the migration of TiO2 nanoparticles to the surface of CNFs, enabling their regular movement when the carbonization temperature increased from 400 to 1000 degrees C. The TiO2 loading amount on the surface of CNFs increased gradually with an enhanced temperature, resulting in an increase in specific surface area from 30.09 to 419.8 m(2) g(-1). In addition, the obtained TiO2@CNFs composites exhibited excellent hydrophilicity and high degree of graphitization. Accordingly, when the carbonization temperature increased, the composites presented an enhanced photocatalytic activity toward the degradation of rhodamine B. Hence, a novel method for preparing TiO2@CNFs composites with tailored TiO2 loading amount could be envisioned.