Electrospun tungsten trioxide nanofibers decorated with palladium oxide nanoparticles exhibiting enhanced photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Tungsten trioxide (WO 3 ) based nanofibers have many advantages as photocatalysts due to its band gap which fits with readily accessible light sources. We successfully fabricated novel palladium oxide (PdO) particles decorated WO 3 nanofibers by electrospinning combined with chemical deposition processes, leading to improved photocatalytic efficiency for organic dye degradation up to 86.4%. Morphologies, elemental compositions and structural analyses confirmed the successful uniform decoration of PdO particles along WO 3 nanofibers. Photodegradation of methylene blue as a model pollutant in water media was performed under UV and visible light in the presence of fabricated nanofibers as a photocatalyst. As a result, improved photocatalytic activity by PdO decoration was observed compared to commercially available WO 3 NFs without PdO, attributed to its ability to hold excited electrons and increase surface area of NFs. This fibrous hybrid catalytic materials platform will open up a new and practical route and stimulate further research to improve photocatalytic performance.

Fabrication of Two Polyester Nanofiber Types Containing the Biobased Monomer Isosorbide: Poly (Ethylene Glycol 1,4-Cyclohexane Dimethylene Isosorbide Terephthalate) and Poly (1,4-Cyclohexane Dimethylene Isosorbide Terephthalate)

“…Nanofibers (NFs) are characterized by extremely long length, small diameter, large surface area per unit mass, and small pore size providing a high surface-to-volume ratio [ 8 ]; they are utilized in various applications such as filtration, tissue engineering scaffolds, membranes, antibacterial materials, and photocatalysts [ 9 , 10 ]. The most commonly utilized method for fabricating NFs is the electrospinning technique; this is one of the most effective, straightforward, and facile methods for producing various polymeric fiber sheets of nanometer to micrometer diameter and with a large surface area to volume ratio [ 11 , 12 ].…”

Recent Advances on Nanofiber Fabrications: Unconventional State-of-the-Art Spinning Techniques

“…Nanofibers belong to a group of most interesting and promising materials due to their unique physicochemical properties, i.e., extraordinary porosity with interconnectivity between pores in mats, mechanical flexibility and strength, high surface area, and high applicability to fabricate composites with other materials [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. These characteristics enabling its use for a variety of applications have attracted tremendous scientific and technological interests [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Among various nanofiber fabrication techniques, such as melt spinning [ 9 ], wet spinning [ 10 ], dry spinning [ 11 ] and others, an electrospinning utilizing electrical force to form polymeric fibers with a diameter ranging from nanometer to sub-micrometer has been considered as an important workhorse academically as well as industrially.…”

Fabrication of ZnO Nanoparticle-Decorated Nanofiber Mat with High Uniformity Protected by Constructing Tri-Layer Structure

“…Up to now, a number of methods for the incorporation of particles on nanofibers have been reported to fabricate well-defined composite nanofibers [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Specifically, for electrospinning to form nanofibers, two methods have been employed: (i) the use of a polymer solution where the particles are dispersed in, and (ii) the immersion of prepared nanofibers in the medium where the particles are dispersed [ 9 ].…”