1D/2D Electrospun Polyvinylidene Fluoride Nanofibers/Carbon Flakes Hybrid Nonmetal Polymeric Photo- and Piezocatalyst

Currently, one of the priority tasks is the development of intelligent materials that are sensitive to stimuli and can be used in catalytic applications for efficient decomposition of organic pollutants. Particularly relevant in this regard is the development of inexpensive non-metallic hybrid polymer photocatalysts, and the explanation of the mechanism of using light energy in such systems is still the subject of open discussions. In this work, hybrid polymer fiber membranes based on polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) with graphite flakes were obtained by electrospinning. The morphology of the obtained samples was investigated using SEM microscopy methods, and their crystalline structure was analysed using XRD, Raman, and FTIR methods. Using RFE spectroscopy, it was shown that the addition of graphite leads to ion-dipole interaction between the carbon surface and the polymer dipoles, changing the ratio of covalent and semi-ionic bonds on the surface. The catalytic properties investigated during the decomposition of the organic dye methylene blue (MB) demonstrated high piezocatalytic activity of doped membranes and high photocatalytic activity of PVDF/C0.5. It was established that the photocatalytic activity is due to excitonic excitation. Polymeric photocatalysts are a hot topic in research. Understanding how light energy is used is important. Recent studies show that the catalytic process in polymer-based photocatalysts is not mediated by charge transfer, but by energy exchange between the exciton and the substrate. We made polymeric composites using PVDF and carbon flakes. Our results show that the PVDF/C0.5 composite is highly photocatalytic due to delocalized regions near the donor-acceptor interface. This is the first study to show PVDF ' s photocatalytic activity with a non-photocatalyst carbon filler.image