Electrospun BiOI nano/microtectonic plate-like structure synthesis and UV-light assisted photodegradation of ARS dye
Date
2014Source Title
RSC Advances
Print ISSN
2046-2069
Publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry
Volume
4
Issue
37
Pages
19251 - 19256
Language
English
Type
ArticleItem Usage Stats
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Abstract
BiOI electrospun nanofibers were prepared by using PAN as a supporting polymer. Subsequent annealing at 500 °C for 5 h, with a ramp rate of about 5 °C min-1 in air, breaks the nanofibers down to tectonic plate-like nano/microstructures. The surface physical and chemical structural changes were then further characterized by FE-SEM, TEM, XRD and XPS. The results reveal that the morphology and crystallite size of BiOI vary strongly depending on the precursor concentration used in the synthesis method. These nanostructures were later employed for photocatalytic degradation of a synthetic textile dye, Alizarin Red S (ARS). The photocatalytic efficiencies were found to be about 93.34% after 100 min of UV-light (340 nm) illumination. Photocatalytic activity (PCA) performance depends on morphology and band alignment. All the compositions follow first order pseudo-kinetics, which was found to be 0.1197 min-1 for a doping concentration of 3%. The enhancement in photodegradation could be possibly by photocatalysis and a photosensitization phenomenon. This has been explained based on the band edge position. © the Partner Organisations 2014.
Keywords
NanofibersPhotocatalysis
Chemical structural changes
Doping concentration
Electrospun nanofibers
Photo catalytic degradation
Photocatalytic activities
Photocatalytic efficiency
Plate-like structure
Precursor concentration
Morphology