Multifunction ZnO/carbon hybrid nanofiber mats for organic dyes treatment via photocatalysis with enhanced solar-driven evaporation

Abstract

ZnO-based photocatalytic materials have received widespread attention due to their usefulness than other photocatalytic materials in organic dye wastewater treatment. However, its photocatalytic efficiency and surface stability limit further applicability. This paper uses a one-step carbonization method to prepare multifunctional ZnO/carbon hybrid nanofiber mats. The carbonization creates a π-conjugated carbonaceous structure of the mats, which prolongs the electron recovery time of ZnO nanoparticles to yield improved photocatalytic efficiency. Further, the carbonization reduces the fiber diameter of the carbon hybrid nanofiber mats, which quadruples the specific surface area to yield enhanced adsorption and photocatalytic performance. At the same time, the prepared nanofiber mats can increase the evaporation rate of water under solar irradiation to a level of 1.46 kg·m⁻²·h⁻¹ with an efficiency of 91.9%. Thus, the nanofiber mats allow the facile incorporation of photocatalysts to clean contaminated water through adsorption, photodegradation, and interfacial heat-assisted distillation mechanisms.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

hybrid nanofiber mats / zinc oxide / photocatalysis / solar-driven evaporation

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Disclosure of potential conflicts of interests

There is no conflict of interest for this manuscript.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFB 0303000) and the New Materials Research Key Program of Tianjin (Grant No. 16ZXCLGX00090).

Electronic supplementary information

Supplementary materials can be found in the online version at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11706-022-0623-7.

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