Polyaniline-doped TiO2/PLLA Fibers with Enhanced Visible-light Photocatalytic Degradation Performance

A simple and practical strategy has been developed for preparing polyaniline(PAND-doped TiO2/poly(1-lactide) (P@TiP-C) fibers by a combination of coaxial-electrospinning and in -situ polymerization. The TiO2/PLLA composite fibers with TiO2 located on the surface were fabricated by coaxial-electrospinning, with PLLA as the core phase and a dispersion of TiO2 particles, a well-known photocatalyst, in the sheath phase. The aniline monomers were also located in the core phase and in-situ polymerized by ammonium persulfate (APS) after electrospinning. SEM images show that TiO2 particles were located on the surface of PLLA fibers. Photocatalytic degradation tests show that the P@TiP-C fibers exhibit enhanced photocatalytic activity for degradation of methyl orange under visible light, likely due to the synergistic effect of PANi and TiO2.