One-pot electronspinning of polyvinylpyrrolidone/cellulose acetate/TiO2 nanofibrous membranes with enhanced photocatalytic properties

Jason D. Orlando, Tej B. Limbu, Basant Chitara, Fei Yan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Herein we report enhanced photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue by a novel composite material, which consists of cellulose acetate (CA), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and TiO2 nanofibers prepared by one-pot electrospinning. This study describes a strategy for in situ synthesis of TiO2 nanofibers within a porous two-polymer electrospun nanofiber membrane. A hybrid composite that utilizes both the absorptive properties of CA and the photocatalytic oxidative properties of TiO2 was created. TiO2 nanofibers were created by electrospinning a bipolymer system consisting of PVP and CA with titanium isopropoxide (TIP) in a mixture of acetic acid, acetone and N, N-dimethylacetamide. Pores were introduced by dissolving PVP to increase surface area and enhanced access to TiO2 and CA. Small sheets of this material were able to show substantial degradation of methylene blue (10–5 M) in as little as one day. In four days, the porous membrane exhibited approximately 200% enhancement in its removal efficiency of methylene blue, as compared with the as-synthesized CA/PVP/TiO2 and the PVP/TiO2 nanofiber sheets. This study offers a robust method for synthesis of this two-polymer material with variable quantities of TIP and demonstrates the potential applicability of electrospun hybrid polymer/TiO2 nanofiber composites as thin fibrous catalytic surfaces.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)911-918
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Porous Materials
Volume27
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jun 2020
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Bipolymers
  • Electrospinning
  • Methylene blue
  • Photocatalytic degradation
  • Titanium dioxide

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Materials Science (all)
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

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