Carbonaceous Nanofibers-titanium Dioxide Nanocomposites: Synthesis and Use as a Platform for Removal of Dye Pollutants

Abstract

A mild chemistry route was developed to prepare carbonaceous nanofibers-titanium dioxide (CNF-TiO₂) nanocomposites for removal of dye pollutants. In the process of the template-directed hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), ultrathin Te nanowires were adopted as templates and glucose as the carbon source, and TiO₂ was decorated on CNF via the hydrolysis of tetrabutyltitanate in the presence of CNF in ethanol. The as-prepared materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). SEM and TEM observations displayed that TiO₂ nanoparticles were anchored on the CNF. EDX and XRD data confirmed that the assynthesized samples were CNF-TiO₂, and TiO₂ belonged to anatase titania. Taking advantage of combined benefits of carbonaceous nanofibers and titanium dioxide, these CNF-TiO₂ nanocomposites exhibited higher removal efficiency in a short time and showed good reusability. It was showed that over 97% of Rhodamine B could be removed in 15 min without generating the solid and liquid wastes. The removal efficiency of dyes was still over 80% after reuse in five cycles. All the results demonstrate that the as-prepared CNF-TiO₂ composites are effective materials for fast and effective removal of dye pollutants and thus can provide a new platform for dye decontamination.

Keywords

carbon materials / nanocomposites / dye pollutants

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