Electrochemical Photocatalytic Degradation of Eriochrome Black T Dye Using Synthesized TiO2@CNTs Nanofibers
Junren Zhu, Jiang Zhenzhen
Abstract
In this study, TiO 2 and TiO 2 @CNTs nanofibers were synthesized via electrospinning method and their morphological, structural, optical, electrochemical properties were considered. Furthermore, these electrodes were characterized as photocatalysts for degradation of Eriochrome Black T (EBT). The network rod structure of the porous electrospun TiO 2 and TiO 2 @CNTs nanofibers were observed. The high porous and large interfacial area of nanofiber of TiO 2 @CNTs contained the uniform distribution and direct growth of TiO 2 on the entangled bundles carboxylate MWCNT fibers surface. Optical study showed that the optical band gap values 3.19 eV and 2.42 eV were obtained for TiO 2 and TiO 2 @CNTs nanofibers, respectively which indicate preparing the hybrid system of homogeneous mixture of MWCNTs with TiO 2 narrow the band gap and develops the visible light absorption. EIS result shows that the resistance for transfer of photo-generated electrons TiO 2 @CNTs nanofibers samples were lower than TiO 2 . The high degradation efficiency of EBT on TiO 2 @CNTs nanofibers surface was obtained under visible irradiation because of the presence of MWCNTs which lead to narrow the band gap of hybrid system and promote the effective surface area and enhance the adsorption capacity of EBT on TiO 2 @CNTsnanofibers photo-catalyst surface. Moreover, recombination of photo-generated electron-hole pairs can be decreased in TiO 2 @CNTs.