Electrospun core–sheath PAN@PPY nanofibers decorated with ZnO: photo-induced water decontamination enhanced by a semiconducting support

Abstract

A flexible mat of semiconducting polypyrrole nanofibers increases ZnO photocatalytic efficiency through heterojunctions that promote separation of photoinduced charge carriers.

Non-purified commercial multiwalled carbon nanotubes supported on electrospun polyacrylonitrile@polypyrrole nanofibers as photocatalysts for water decontamination

“…Another mechanism not detected by EPR with DMPO, such as the direct transfer of h + , is most probably responsible for the degradation of the RB and naphthalene molecules adsorbed on the PPY sheath. [32][33][34] It is worth mentioning that the ROS concentration in the proximity of the irradiated system could be some orders of magnitude higher than the value measured via EPR in the bulk aqueous phase, using a trapping substrate. 28,48 Since these short-lifetime reactive species are produced and scavenged close to the nanotube surface, 49,50 they inuence the CNT(NP) and PPY-CNT(NP) surface chemistry much more than what is expected from their bulk concentrations.…”

“…Following this strategy, we previously designed and fabricated two combined systems where we supported photoactive ZnO NPs, cerium-doped ZnO NPs, and ZnO nanocrystals on polymeric mats of electrospun nanobers. 30,32 In this work, we immobilize CNT(NP)s on a mat of electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanobers coated with a conducting polypyrrole (PPY) sheath, as depicted in Fig. 1.…”

“…35 Among other commonly used conducting polymers, PPY is the best compromise between the cost of production and stability in the working conditions, i.e. UV-Vis irradiation and temperature # 50 C. 32 The interaction between PPY and CNT(NP) on the surface is expected to generate a synergistic effect 36,37 in the removal efficiency as the PPY sheath offers an additional surface area for the adsorption of substrates and delocalizes/collects the reactive charge carriers photogenerated in the nanotube. On the other hand, the high surface area and conductivity of CNTs have been reported to increase the redox properties of PPY.…”

Fabrication of Stretchable and Transparent Core–Shell Polymeric Nanofibers Using Coaxial Electrospinning and Their Application to Phototransistors

“…Core–shell structured NFs can be fabricated directly through electrospinning using a uniaxial nozzle [ 39–40 ] or a coaxial nozzle [ 41–44 ] or through the deposition of a shell onto the surface of electrospun NFs. [ 45–46 ] However, core–shell NFs have seldom been fabricated from uniaxial nozzle electrospinning because of limitations arising from the miscibility and solubility of the materials. Secondary deposition of the shell layer also involves an additional fabrication process and sometimes leads to a lack of uniformity in the shell layer.…”

Synthesis of Core–Double Shell Nylon-ZnO/Polypyrrole Electrospun Nanofibers

“…The combination of ZnO with PPy was intensively exploited for obtaining materials with improved properties, especially for generating a p–n organic–inorganic heterojunction. Several papers describe the fabrication of electrospun fiber meshes based on ZnO and PPy, the approaches consisting of decorating the PPy based fibers with ZnO nanoparticles [ 32 ] or vice versa [ 7 , 33 , 34 ] and in situ polymerization of PPy in the presence of ZnO [ 35 ]. On our knowledge, such core–double shell fibrous material fabricated mixing the ZnO chemical and PPy electrochemical synthesis have not been reported in the scientific literature so far.…”