Novel hollow mesoporous 1D TiO2 nanofibers as photovoltaic and photocatalytic materials

Zhang, Xiang; Thavasi, Velmurugan; Mhaisalkar, Subodh; Ramakrishna, Seeram

doi:10.1039/c2nr11251e

Cited by 194 publications

(139 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

138

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Polyethylene and polypropylene are two polymers that have been successfully fabricated from the melt [32,33]. Ceramic fibers such as TiO 2 have been fabricated from a sol of ceramic precursor and a host polymer such as polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) [34]. Metallic fibers such as copper fibers have also been generated by electrospinning a metal acetate or nitrate solution with a host polymer, followed by degradation of the host polymer and reduction [35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hierarchically Structured Electrospun Fibers

Zander

2013

Polymers

126

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:Traditional electrospun nanofibers have a myriad of applications ranging from scaffolds for tissue engineering to components of biosensors and energy harvesting devices. The generally smooth one-dimensional structure of the fibers has stood as a limitation to several interesting novel applications. Control of fiber diameter, porosity and collector geometry will be briefly discussed, as will more traditional methods for controlling fiber morphology and fiber mat architecture. The remainder of the review will focus on new techniques to prepare hierarchically structured fibers. Fibers with hierarchical primary structures-including helical, buckled, and beads-on-a-string fibers, as well as fibers with secondary structures, such as nanopores, nanopillars, nanorods, and internally structured fibers and their applications-will be discussed. These new materials with helical/buckled morphology are expected to possess unique optical and mechanical properties with possible applications for negative refractive index materials, highly stretchable/high-tensile-strength materials, and components in microelectromechanical devices. Core-shell type fibers enable a much wider variety of materials to be electrospun and are expected to be widely applied in the sensing, drug delivery/controlled release fields, and in the encapsulation of live cells for biological applications. Materials with a hierarchical secondary structure are expected to provide new superhydrophobic and self-cleaning materials.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hierarchically Structured Electrospun Fibers

Zander

2013

Polymers

126

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Bijarbooneh et al (2013) have reported mesoporous anatase TiO2 nanofibers with a diameter of around 300 nm and 10-20 μm length show a conversion cell efficiency of 8.14%, corresponding to a ∼35% enhancement over the Degussa P25 reference photoanode. Zhang et al (2012b) reported hollow mesoporous TiO2 nanofibers prepared by co-axial electrospinning with two immiscible polymers, polyethylene oxide (PEO) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) (Figure 7a&b). The solar-to-current conversion efficiency (η) and short circuit current (Jsc) of these nanofibers were measured to be around 5.6% and 10.38 mA/cm 2 respectively, which were higher than those of DSSC made using regular TiO2 nanofibers under identical conditions (η=4.2%, Jsc = 8.99 mA/cm 2 ) ( Figure 7c).…”

Section: Tablementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The combination of metal-oxides in nanofibers can be obtained differently from the routes discussed earlier like doping or addition of metal oxides. One of the approaches is forming core/shell nanostructures of metal oxides where a metal oxide layer acts as a shell and another as core layer (Zhang et al, 2012b). Electrospinning technique is one of the very effective techniques in synthesizing core/shell nanostructures in different combinations of metal oxides.…”

Section: Photocatalysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Perspective of electrospun nanofibers in energy and environment

Jayaraman¹,

Li²,

Kumar³

et al. 2014

Biofuel Res. J.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

HIGHLIGHTSElectrospinning is a simple, continuous and scalable technique to produce polymer composite and metal oxide nanofibers with high-aspect ratio and controlled morphologies. It possesses the added advantage of synthesizing porous, hollow and core/shell nanofibers with combination of additional polymers, metals and metal oxides for potential applications. This review focusses on the impact and role of electrospun nanofibers in improving the performances of DSSCs, photocatalysis and hydrogen generation & storage. This review summarizes the recent developments of electrospun semiconducting metal oxide/polymer composite nanostructures in energy and environment related applications. Electrospinning technique has the advantage of synthesizing nanostructures with larger surface to volume ratio, higher crystallinity with phase purity and tunable morphologies like nanofibers, nanowires, nanoflowers and nanorods. The electrospun nanostructures have exhibited unique electrical, optical and catalytic properties than the bulk counter parts as well as nanomaterials synthesized through other approaches. These nanostructures have improved diffusion and interaction of molecules, transfer of electrons along the matrix and catalytic properties with further surface modification and functionalization with combination of metals and metal oxides. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

show abstract

“…TiO 2 nanostructures with controlled morphologies and exposed active sites have demonstrated considerable potential as photocatalysts for practical use in environmental protection and energy conversion systems [23][24][25][26][27][28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%