Direct synthesis of novel vanadium oxide embedded porous carbon nanofiber decorated with iron nanoparticles as a low-cost and highly efficient visible-light-driven photocatalyst

Ahmed Aboueloyoun Taha; Amir A Hriez; Yi-nan Wu; Hongtao Wang; Fengting Li

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2013.11.015

Direct synthesis of novel vanadium oxide embedded porous carbon nanofiber decorated with iron nanoparticles as a low-cost and highly efficient visible-light-driven photocatalyst

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2014 Mar 1:417:199-205. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2013.11.015. Epub 2013 Nov 18.

Authors

Ahmed Aboueloyoun Taha¹, Amir A Hriez², Yi-nan Wu², Hongtao Wang², Fengting Li³

Affiliations

¹ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, UNEP TONGJI Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development, State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse Study, Tongji University, Siping Rd 1239, Shanghai 200092, China; Soils, Water and Environment Research Institute (SWERI), Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Giza 12112, Egypt.
² College of Environmental Science and Engineering, UNEP TONGJI Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development, State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse Study, Tongji University, Siping Rd 1239, Shanghai 200092, China.
³ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, UNEP TONGJI Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development, State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse Study, Tongji University, Siping Rd 1239, Shanghai 200092, China. Electronic address: fengting@mail.tongji.edu.cn.

PMID: 24407677
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2013.11.015

Abstract

Template-free porous carbon nanofibers embedded by vanadium oxide and decorated with iron nanoparticles (Fe@V-CNF) were prepared in a time and cost-saving manner by combining electrospinning and heat treatment processes. Cost-saving ammonium metavanadate was used as a semiconductor precursor of vanadium oxide (VOx) as well as porogen. The generated pores in the carbon nanofiber (CNFs) matrix formed pathways between the embedded VOx and the surface of CNFs and Fe NPs, thus, facilitate photo-generated electron transfer. The characterization results revealed that Fe@V-CNF comprised graphitic fibers with well-dispersed distribution of nanosized Fe NPs (~7 nm) along the surface of CNF. Thereby, it enhanced the visible-light harvesting. The prepared Fe@V-CNF had remarkable light absorption in the visible region. It demonstrated much higher photocatalytic efficiency of photodegradation of organic dyes compared with the pure CNF and vanadium oxide embedded CNF (V-CNF). Notably, Fe@V-CNF achieved 99.9% dye degradation within 15-20 min. And, it could be conveniently recycled due to its one-dimensional nanostructural property.

Keywords: Iron nanoparticles; Photodegradation; Porous CNF; Vanadium oxide; Visible-light.