title: General strategy for fabricating thoroughly mesoporous nanofibers.
abstract: Recently, preparation of mesoporous fibers has attracted extensive attentions because of their unique and broad applications in photocatalysis, optoelectronics, and biomaterials. However, it remains a great challenge to fabricate thoroughly mesoporous nanofibers with high purity and uniformity. Here, we report a general, simple and cost-effective strategy, namely, foaming-assisted electrospinning, for producing mesoporous nanofibers with high purity and enhanced specific surface areas. As a proof of concept, the as-fabricated mesoporous TiO2 fibers exhibit much higher photocatalytic activity and stability than both the conventional solid counterparts and the commercially available P25. The abundant vapors released from the introduced foaming agents are responsible for the creation of pores with uniform spatial distribution in the spun precursor fibers. The present work represents a critically important step in advancing the electrospinning technique for generating mesoporous fibers in a facile and universal manner.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials, Ningbo University of Technology , Ningbo 315016, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Huilin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Fengmei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Guodong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Weiyou
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wu