Preparation and Energy Stored Photocatalytic Properties of WO3/TiO2 Composite Fibers

Heterostructured WO3/TiO2 composite fibers were prepared via electrospinning fabrication of anatase fibers by adopting n-butyl titanate[Ti(OBu)(4)] as precursors and hydrothermal growth of WO3 nanostructures on anatase fibers substrate. The morphology and structure of WO3/TiO2 composite fibers were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD), scanning electron microscopy(SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) techniques. The results showed that flower-like WO, microsphere could evenly grow on the TiO2 fibers surface and thus heterostructured WO3/TiO2 composite fibers were successfully obtained. By employing Rhodamine B degradation as the model reaction, the WO3/TiO2 heterostructures showed enhanced photocatalytic efficiency compared with the bare TiO2 fibers under UV light irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic efficiency could be ascribed to the promoted electron-hole pairs separation induced by the heterojunction and thus enhanced quantum efficiency. Degradation experiment displays that Rhodamine B can be degraded in darkness by the WO3/TiO2 composite fibers photocatalyst with energy storage degradation activity.