title: Shape-Enhanced Photocatalytic Activities of Thoroughly Mesoporous ZnO Nanofibers.
abstract: 1D mesoporous materials have attracted extensive interest recently, owning to their fascinating properties and versatile applications. However, it remains as a grand challenge to develop a simple and efficient technique to produce oxide nanofibers with mesoporous architectures, controlled morphologies, large surface areas, and optimal performances. In this work, a facile foaming-assisted electrospinning strategy with foaming agent of tea saponin is used to produce thoroughly mesoporous ZnO nanofibers with high purity and controlled morphology. Interestingly, mesoporous fibers with elliptical cross-section exhibit the significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity for hydrogen production, as compared to the counterparts with circular and rectangular cross-sections, and they also perform better than the commercial ZnO nanopowders. The unexpected shape dependence of photocatalytic activities is attributed to the different stacking modes of the mesoporous fibers, and a geometrical model is developed to account for the shape dependence. This work represents an important step toward producing thoroughly mesoporous ZnO nanofibers with tailored morphologies, and the discovery that fibers with elliptical cross-section render the best performance provides a valuable guideline for improving the photocatalytic performance of such mesoporous nanomaterials.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials, Ningbo University of Technology, Ningbo, 315016, P. R. China.|School of Material Science and Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaolong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials, Ningbo University of Technology, Ningbo, 315016, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Huilin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Materials Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Zhixiong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials, Ningbo University of Technology, Ningbo, 315016, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Fengmei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials, Ningbo University of Technology, Ningbo, 315016, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jinju
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials, Ningbo University of Technology, Ningbo, 315016, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Merchant Marine College, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai, 201306, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Wenge
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Material Science and Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Pengzhan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ying
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials, Ningbo University of Technology, Ningbo, 315016, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Weiyou
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Materials Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wu
keywords: ZnO; electrospinning; mesoporous nanofibers; photocatalytic activities