Fast degradation of methylene blue with electrospun hierarchical α-Fe2O3 nanostructured fibers

• Published in: Journal of sol-gel science and technology Vol. 58; no. 3; pp. 716 - 723
• Main Authors: Liu, Yu, Yu, Hongbing, Zhan, Sihui, Li, Yi, Lv, Zhenning, Yang, Xiaoqing, Yu, Yunjiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.06.2011; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Catalysis; Catalysts; Ceramics; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Colloidal gels. Colloidal sols; Colloidal state and disperse state; Composites; Dyes; Exact sciences and technology; Fibers; General and physical chemistry; Glass; Inorganic Chemistry; Materials Science; Methylene blue; Nanostructure; Nanotechnology; Natural Materials; Optical and Electronic Materials; Original Paper; Photochemistry; Photodegradation; Physical chemistry of induced reactions (with radiations, particles and ultrasonics); Process parameters; Sol-gel processes; Theory of reactions, general kinetics. Catalysis. Nomenclature, chemical documentation, computer chemistry; Photocatalytic; fibers; α-Fe; Electrospinning; Sol–gel; O; Methylene blue; Water; Binary compound; Dyes; Fiber; Precursor; Degradation; Efficiency; Scanning electron microscopy; Photocatalysis; Sol-gel; Transition element compounds; Thermogravimetry; Nanostructure; X ray diffraction; Infrared spectrometry; Heterogeneous catalysis; Inorganic anion; Sol gel process; Catalyst
• ISSN: 0928-0707; 1573-4846
• DOI: 10.1007/s10971-011-2451-6

The α-Fe 2 O 3 fibers have been prepared by electrospinning the corresponding sol–gel precursor, then these fibers were characterized by TGA, SEM, XRD, BET and FT-IR respectively, indicating that the hierarchical α-Fe 2 O 3 nanostructured fibers came into being. Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) in water was carried out under ultraviolet (UV) light, showing that the fibers had better efficiency for removing MB than other catalysts. And several process parameters have also been studied, which showed that the removal effect of MB was influenced by the process parameters, such as the initial dye concentration, catalyst amounts, inorganic anions, and so on.