Mesoporous TiO2/WO3 hollow fibers with interior interconnected nanotubes for photocatalytic application

Abstract

Mesoporous TiO2/WO3 hollow fibers with interconnected nanotubes were prepared by a sol-gel method using polysulfone hollow fibers as a framework template and a block copolymer as an internal template. Polysulfone fibers were immersed in a sol-gel solution and the oxides were deposited on the fibers by vacuum impregnation. The polysulfone and copolymer were removed by thermal treatment at 500 °C for 3 h to form the mesoporous hollow fibers. They preserved the shape and morphology of the polysulfone template after heat treatment. The structure and optical properties of the fibers were characterized, and the performance of the fibers for photocatalytic reaction of methylene blue was investigated. The mesoporous TiO2/WO3 hollow fibers possessed higher surface area (∼130 m2 g -1) and lower band gap energy than pure TiO2 fibers. They exhibited better photodegradation efficiency of methylene blue than TiO 2 and WO3 fibers and P25 powder. © 2014 the Partner Organisations.