Fabrication of electronspun porous CeO2 nanofibers with large surface area for pollutants removal

The porous CeO2 nanofibers with diameter of 100–140 nm were successfully synthesized by single-capillary electrospinning of a Ce(NO3)3·6H2O/PVP precursor solution, followed by calcination. The preparation parameters, including solution parameters and process parameters, affecting the spinnability and the morphology of nanofibers were investigated and discussed systematically. And the effects of different calcination temperatures on the microstructure CeO2 nanofibers were also studied. A plausible mechanism was proposed to explain the formation process of the CeO2 nanofibers. The N2 adsorption-desorption isotherm analysis showed that the specific surface area and average pore size of the nanofibers were 195.75 g/m2 and 2.4 nm, respectively. Moreover, as absorbent, the porous CeO2 nanofibers adsorbed the MO effectively. The adsorption experiment indicated that the adsorption process can be divided into two stages, including quick adsorption and gradual adsorption. And the adsorption capacities were not only determined by the specific surface area, but closely related to the pore size. Finally, the adsorption data were modeled by the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetics equations. The results showed that the pseudo-second order kinetics could best describe the adsorption of MO onto the porous CeO2 nanofibers.