Synthesis and characterization of a novel nanofibrous TiO2/SiO2 composite with enhanced photocatalytic activity

• TiO2/chrysotile-based silica nanofiber composites are synthesized for the first time.
• TiO2 nanoparticles are well dispersed on the surface of SiO2 nanofibers without agglomeration.
• The diameters of the TiO2 nanoparticles in the composites are less than 10 nm.
• TiO2/SiO2 nanofiber composites show high photocatalytic activity.

TiO2/chrysotile-based silica nanofibers composites (TiO2/SiO2NFs) were synthesized for the first time via a modified sol-gel method combining layer self-assembly procedure. In the composite, TiO2 nanoparticles are anatase structured and evenly dispersed without agglomeration on the surface of SiO2NFs in the form of monolayer. Compared to the commercial TiO2 (P25) and TiO2 prepared by similar sol-gel method, the TiO2/SiO2NFs composite exhibits much higher photocatalytic activity. The SiO2NFs in the composite not only provide a large adsorption capacity substrate, but also make TiO2 particles formed a well-dispersed monolayer to provide larger photocatalytic reaction surface area, resulting in the significantly increasing of photocatalytic activity. It is also found the TiO2/SiO2NFs prepared under 800 °C exhibits best photocatalytic activity due to the relatively optimum anatase crystalline phase fraction and crystallinity.