Synthesis of TiO2@lignin based carbon nanofibers composite materials with highly efficient photocatalytic to methylene blue dye

The hydrophobic TiO2/lignin based carbon nanofibers (TiO2@CFs) composite with high photocatalytic efficiency and excellent cycle performance is successfully prepared by the method of electrospinning and thermo-treatment. The results of FTIR, SEM and EDS analyses show that the TiO2 nano-particles are uniformly and firmly coated on the surface of CFs. Due to good hydrophobicity and high electrical conductivity of CFs, such unique properties endow TiO2@CFs composites with enhanced light energy utilization efficiency and photocatalytic efficiency because of their floatability on the solution, high adsorptive capacity of MB, and low recombination of photo-generated electrons and holes. Compared with the commercial TiO2 powder, the degradation rate toward MB of TiO2@CFs is improved about 2.62 and 3.02 times at 30 and 15 min, respectively, under static state and xenon lamp irradiation. The degradation rate of TiO2@CFs toward MB reaches 62.77% within 15 min under static state, and further increase to 87.28% after 30 min. In addition, the removal rate of MB can be obtained up to 91.5% even after four cycles at a stirring speed of 200 RPM. Therefore, these unique material structures make it become a promising photocatalytic material.