A facile approach for high surface area electrospun TiO2 nanostructures for photovoltaic and photocatalytic applications.
A rice-shaped TiO2-ZnO composite was prepared by electrospinning a mixture comprising the precursors of TiO2 and ZnO in polyvinyl acetate polymer dissolved in N,N-dimethyl acetamide. The electrospun nanofibers upon heat treatment in air resulted in collapse of the continuous fiber morphology and the formation of the rice-shaped TiO2-ZnO composite. The TiO2-ZnO composite was then treated with dilute acetic acid under hydrothermal conditions to etch ZnO from the TiO2-ZnO composite to get coral-shaped anisotropic TiO2. The structural anisotropy of TiO2 produced by the selective etching of ZnO resulted in a high surface area of 148 m(2) g(-1) for the TiO2. The initial and final materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Raman and XPS spectroscopies, powder X-ray diffraction and BET surface area measurements. The utility of the anisotropic TiO2 in photovoltaics and photocatalysis was explored. Dye-sensitized solar cells fabricated using the TiO2 showed a conversion efficiency of 6.54% as against 4.8% for a control experiment with the rice-shaped TiO2. The anisotropic TiO2 also showed good photocatalysis in the degradation of methyl orange dye and phenol.
Amrita Centre for Nanoscience & Molecular Medicine, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, AIMS Ponekkara PO, Kochi 682041, Kerala, India. sreekumarannair@aims.amrita.edu.
T A
TA
Arun
Asha Anish
AA
Madhavan
Daya K
DK
Chacko
G S
GS
Anjusree
T G
TG
Deepak
Sara
S
Thomas
Shantikumar V
SV
Nair
A Sreekumaran
AS
Nair
D019342:Acetic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D001391:Azo Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D002384:Catalysis; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D019800:Phenol / Q000737:chemistry; D010782:Photolysis; D011145:Polyvinyls / Q000737:chemistry; D033362:Powder Diffraction; D013499:Surface Properties; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*
D001391:Azo Compounds; D011145:Polyvinyls; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C009495:titanium dioxide; C013215:polyvinyl acetate; D019800:Phenol; C100258:methyl orange; D014025:Titanium; D019342:Acetic Acid; D015034:Zinc Oxide