Simultaneously enhanced photocatalytic and antibacterial activities of TiO2/Ag composite nanofibers for wastewater purification

Wang, L, Ali, J, Zhang, C, Mailhot, G and Pan, G ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0920-3018, 2017. Simultaneously enhanced photocatalytic and antibacterial activities of TiO2/Ag composite nanofibers for wastewater purification. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 8 (1): 102104. ISSN 2213-3437

Preview

Text PubSub9951_Pan.pdf - Post-print Download (905kB) | Preview

Abstract

High throughput of polyacylonitile (PAN)-based Ag/TiO2 composite nanofibers were prepared by using needleless electrospinning method. The morphology and crystallinity characterization revealed uniform and smooth nanofibers with an average diameter ranged from 160 to 260 nm. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of PAN/Ag/TiO2 compared with PAN/TiO2 nanofibers under visible light irradiation was linked with high interfacial charge transfer and low bandgap due to Ag entity. High photodegradation efficiency for methyl orange, rhodamine B and methylene blue were achieved as 99.5%, 92% and 99% respectively during the 4 h experiment. Effect of key parameters (i.e. pH, oxygen and Ag/TiO2 loading dosage) on photodegradation efficiency of dyes were also investigated. Active species trapping experiments demonstrated that •O2- and •OH were dominant active species in the photocatalytic degradation of dyes. These composite nanofibers have also exhibited excellent antibacterial activity, e.g. 95% of E. coli and 99% of S. aureus were killed in 2 h. Bifunctional nanofibers can be easily recovered from the aqueous solution as compared with the TiO2 nanoparticles. Moreover, the daily production rate of nanofibers has reached over 1.4 kg in the laboratory test, which is 60 times higher than that using the single needle electrospinning method. This production rate may be further optimized in the pilot scale studies. High productivity and strong catalytic properties of nanofibers propose their potential applications in environmental remediation for economically and eco-friendly wastewater and air treatment materials.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering
Creators:	Wang, L., Ali, J., Zhang, C., Mailhot, G. and Pan, G.
Publisher:	Elsevier
Date:	29 December 2017
Volume:	8
Number:	1
ISSN:	2213-3437
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1016/j.jece.2017.12.057 DOI S2213343717306966 Publisher Item Identifier 656264 Other
Divisions:	Schools > School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	15 Jan 2018 09:41
Last Modified:	05 Mar 2020 15:46
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/32408

Actions (login required)

Edit View

Statistics

Views

Downloads