Silica-decorated mesoporous TiO₂ continuous fibers: preparation, structures and properties

SiO₂-decorated mesoporous TiO₂ continuous fibers were prepared by one-pot polyorganometal method. The structures and some properties of the fibers were studied and characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, DRS and so on. The results show that the Ti–O–Si chemical bond was formed, which led to higher thermal stability and suppressed the growth of anatase. The fiber, heat-treated under steam atmosphere at 600 °C/2 h, has the specific surface area value of 228.7 m² g⁻¹ for Si/Ti = 0.3 (mol ratio), which displays the highest photoactivity of all samples. The degradation rate of methyl orange aqueous solution was 99.5 and 94.5 % after 60 min under UV irradiation and after 3 h under solar irradiation, respectively. Furthermore, it was worthwhile to mention that the degradation efficiency was also more than 90 % after six cycles.

The TiO₂/SiO₂ fibers, composed of nanoparticles about 20–50 nm and Ti–O–Si chemical bond, with high surface area and photocatalytic activity were successfully large-scale-fabricated by a sol–gel method, which have great potential applications such as catalysis, separations and absorption.