Preparation of TiO2–MoO3 composite nanofibers by water-based electrospinning process and their application in photocatalysis

Coupling TiO2 nanofibers with other semiconductor metal oxides can effectively extend the light absorbability of TiO2 to the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum. This study demonstrates the synthesis of TiO2–MoO3 composite nanofibers via electrospinning using Ti and Mo water-soluble precursors. Aqueous solutions of these precursors were added to a PVP solution in N–N dimethylformamide. The mixture was electrospun, followed by annealing in air at 600 °C obtaining oxide nanofibers. The fibers were characterized via thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy. The diameter of the TiO2–MoO3 fibers was between 90 and 110 nm after annealing, Furthermore, methylene blue dye was used to investigate the photocatalytic activity of the fibers in visible light. TiO2–MoO3 fibers showed the best photocalaytic activity with a rate constant of 0.0018 min−1 while pure TiO2 and MoO3 nanofibers had 0.0009 min−1 and 0.0008 min−1 respectively.