TiO<sub>2</sub> nanofibers fabricated by electrospinning technique and degradation of MO dye under UV light
Naveen Thakur, Nikesh Thakur, Viplove Bhullar, Saurabh Sharma, Aman Mahajan, Kuldeep Kumar, Davinder Pal Sharma, Dinesh Pathak
Abstract
Abstract Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanofibers were synthesized by electrospinning to optimize the photocatalytic action efficiency. The synthesis of the fibers was carried out at four different wt% concentrations: 8, 9, 10 & 11% of polymer polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The TiO 2 fibers were further calcined at 700 °C to get powder form. The uncalcinated and calcined TiO 2 nanofibers were characterized by using X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV-Visible spectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy confirmed the rutile phase of the calcined TiO 2 nanofibers in powder form with a crystallite size of 34–38 nm. The surface morphology of the uncalcinated and calcined TiO 2 nanofibers was examined by SEM and the fiber diameter found to be 360–540 nm. The optical bandgap of the calcined TiO 2 nanofibers was found in the range of 3.29–3.24 eV. The photocatalytic activity of the TiO 2 nanofibers as examined for uncalcinated and calcined nanofibers, methyl orange (MO) dye degraded up to 98 and 78%, respectively in 180 min under the exposure of UV light. Uncalcinated TiO 2 nanofibers were found more suitable for degradation of MO dye as compared to calcined nanofibers.