Fabrication and photocatalytic activity of electrospun nylon-6 nanofibers containing tourmaline and titanium dioxide nanoparticles

摘要

In this paper, we report the effect of the incorporation of titanium dioxide (TiO_2) nanoparticles (NPs) on the photocatalytic properties of a tourmaline NPylon-6 composite mat prepared by one-step electrospinning process. Several characterization techniques were utilized to check the successful incorporation of NPs in/on the nanofibers. Both TiO_2 and tourmaline NPs were confirmed to be incorporated on the surface of the nylon-6 nanofibers or fully embedded in the fibers through SEM and TEM observations. The fiber diameter showed increasing size trend in the order of nylon-6 < tourmalineylon-6 < TiO_2-tourmalineylon-6. The incorporation of both TiO_2 and tourmaline NPS on/in nylon-6 nanofibers has resulted to increased photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutant. The successful immobilization on nylon-6 nanofibers through simple electrospinning of tourmaline possessing unique properties, and photocatalytic TiO_2 showed synergistic effect in the degradation of organic pollutants, which could have potential application in water treatment applications.