The Structure-Activity Relationship of the Si-Ti-Re Ternary Mixed System by Electrospinning Synthetic EU 3+ - Tio 2 -Sio 2  Hybrid Nanofibres

Abstract

This study focuses on the structure-activity relationship of the Si-Ti-RE uniform ternary mixed system, in which system Ti, Si and RE ions are uniformly blended, and this system is different from the previous layered system, such as core-shell, core double-shell and hollow double-shell structure of TiO 2  and SiO 2.  In this paper, efficient and stable Eu 3+ -TiO 2 - x SiO 2  hybrid nanofibres with dual functions of luminescence and photocatalysis were fabricated using the electrospinning technique and subjected to heat treatments at 600 °C, 700 °C and 800 °C, respectively. The change of morphology, crystal phase composition, and the variation law of luminescence intensity and photocatalytic performance under the influence of the Si/Ti ratio and calcination temperature were studied in detail by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and photocatalytic performance measurements. The research found that the luminescent and photocatalytic properties of the hybrid nanofibers in this Si-Ti-RE ternary blend system are greatly improved compared with pure TiO 2 , which demonstrates that it is very meaningful to study this ternary system. Moreover, the hybrid nanofibres could be excited by both ultraviolet light (393 nm) and visible blue light (464 nm). The photocatalytic results show that most of the as-prepared nanofibres calcined at 600 °C have better photocatalytic performance for methyl orange (MO) than commercial P25, which reflects the advantage of our developed materials in photocatalytic performance and can be used to treat water pollution and dye degradation. Moreover, compared with the non-mixed system such as core-shell structure, the preparation process of the materials we made is very simple, and there is no need for coating and purification treatment, as well as ensuring excellent performance. Therefore, our work provides a reference for studying the structure-activity relationship of other composite systems and also puts forward new thoughts into the fabrication of inorganic hybrid nanofibers in the multi-element composite system.

Keywords: Electrospinning SiO2-TiO2 nanofibers Eu3+ doping Photocatalytic activity