Enhanced Organic Pollutant Removal Efficiency of Electrospun NiTiO3/TiO2-Decorated Carbon Nanofibers

Abstract

A nanocomposite comprised of nickel titanate/titania nanoparticles decorated with carbon nanofibers (NiTiO3/TiO2-decorated CNFs) is successfully synthesized via electrospinning and further utilized for methylene blue (MB) photodegradation. The morphology, phase, structural and chemical composition of the nanocomposite is investigated via scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive X-ray. A mathematical model is developed to predict the photocatalytic activity of the produced nanocomposite by considering parameters such as initial dye concentration, light intensity, reaction temperature, and catalyst dosage. The reaction rate constant K1 decreased from 0.0153 to 0.0044 min−1 with an increase in the MB concentration from 5 to 15 mg L−1, while K2, K3, and K4 were found to increase with the increase in reaction temperature (0.0153 to 0.0222 min−1), light intensity (0.0153 to 0.0228 min−1) and catalyst dose concentration (0.0153 to 0.0324 min−1), respectively. The results obtained are found to be in good agreement with the modeling results and showed effective photodegradation activity. The performance of our catalyst is found to be better compared to other catalysts previously reported in the literature. The recyclability data of the synthesized NiTiO3/TiO2-decorated CNFs catalyst for four runs show that the catalyst is quite stable and recyclable. This nanocomposite photocatalyst offers a low-cost solution for wastewater pollution problems and opens new avenues to further explore the electrospinning method for the synthesis of nanocomposites.

Synthesis of Ilmenite Nickel Titanite-Supported Carbon Nanofibers Derived from Polyvinylpyrrolidone as Photocatalyst for H2 Production from Ammonia Borane Photohydrolysis

“…Carbon-like graphite, which develops as a result of a partial degradation of carbon during the calcination process, has an outside peak at a 2θ that agrees with (002). The XRD of TiO 2 @CNFs has been shown in our previous work [ 36 ].…”

Enhancing Photocatalytic Activity, Stability, and Separability of TiO2 through Synthesis of Fe3O4@Fibroin‐TiO2 Composite

“…The catalyst‘s effectiveness is shown to be superior to others previously reported. The catalyst is recyclable and provides a low‐cost solution for wastewater pollution problems [13a] . TiO 2 /activated carbon (TiO 2 /AC) was prepared using the sol‐gel method, and the effect of post‐annealing temperature on its properties and photocatalytic activity was studied.…”

Morphological Dependence of Metal Oxide Photocatalysts for Dye Degradation

“…It has been reported that each year about 280,000 tons of textile dyes are released into industrial wastewater by the textile industry [14]. In general, it is thought that throughout the industrial processes, roughly 12% of the total generated synthetic dyes, including methyl orange (MO), methyl red (MR), methylene blue (MB), rhodamine B (RhB), remazol brilliant blue (RB), congo red (CR), and many others, are lost [3,15]. Additionally, 15-20% of global dye production is wasted during the dying process and released into water without additional treatment, resulting in significant environmental damage [16].…”