Fabrication of PdOx loaded highly mesoporous WO3/TiO2 hybrid nanofibers by stepwise pore-generation for enhanced photocatalytic performance

Highly mesoporous WO3/TiO2 nanofibers were fabricated through the combination of an advanced electrospinning strategy in the presence of porogenic agent and the subsequent heat treatment. It was found that the introduced porogenic agent of diisopropyl azodiformate (DIAD) within the precursor solution plays a crucial role on the formation of highly mesoporous WO3/TiO2 nanofibers, enabling their mesopores tunable. The obtained mesoporous nanofibers from the stepwise decomposition of DIAD and polymer skeleton possess more homogeneous and smaller pore sizes in their morphology and thus a higher surface area than that obtained without porogenic agent. The highest surface area can reach 92.3 m(2)g(-1), which is ca. 5 times larger than that of the pure TiO2 nanofibers obtained without DIAD addition. These highly mesoporous WO3/TiO2 nanofibers were further modified by PdOx nanoparticles via photodeposition. The as-fabricated mesoporous PdOx/WO3/TiO2 hybrid nanofibers exhibit excellent photocatalytic activity and significant stability towards acetaldehyde decomposition compared to the conventional nanofibers under visible light and UV-vis light irradiation. The present work suggests a facile preparation of PdOx loaded mesoporous WO3/TiO2 nanofibers, which may provide new solution to prepare the inorganic nanofibers with highly mesoporous structure. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.