Ramya Chandrasekar
Published: 2008
Total Pages: 124
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Titania nanofibers were fabricated using electrospinning and characterized using SEM, XRD and TEM for morphology, chemistry and crystalline structures. The prepared titania nanofibers were approximately 20 nm in diameter and consisted of anatase phased crystalline grains having sizes of ~10 nm. Different spin dopes were prepared by varying the ratio of N, N=dimethylformamide (DME) to isopropanol (IPA). The results indicated that the precursive nanofibers and the final TiO2 nanofibers made from the spin dopes containing DMF alone or DMF/isopropanol mixture as the solvent had the common cylindrical morphology with diameters ranging from tens to hundreds of nanometers, while those made from the spin dope containing isopropanol alone as the solvent had the abnormal concave morphology with sizes/ widths ranging from sub-microns to microns. Electrospun titania nanofibers as well as a commercial titania powder were used to prepare aluminum/titania composites using friction stir processing, and the morphological structures of the composites were characterized using TEM. The interaction of the aluminum matrix with nanofibers was found to be stronger than powder in the aluminum matrix. Comparison of microhardness measurement of the titania nanofibers/aluminum composite with titania power/aluminum composite indicated that the hardness increment is higher with nanofibers than powder. The photocatalytic efficiency of electrospun titania nanofibers is compared with that of commercial titania sample (Degussa P 25) for the degradation of Rhodamine B. The degradation rate of Rhodamine B after 15 min irradiation is identical for both the catalysts.
