Synthesis of hierarchical hollow electrospun TiO2 nanofibers

In this study, we synthesized hierarchical hollow (HH) TiO2 nanofibers (NFs) using a simple single-spinneret electrospinning and etching process to form TiO2-SiO2 hybrid nanofibers (HNFs). The latter were prepared from a starting sol-gel solution consisting of titanium(IV) tert-butoxide and SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) which were commercially available rather than prepared in situ. The SiO2 NPs were well dispersed in the TiO2-SiO2 HNFs, and the obtained TiO2 NFs after removal of the SiO2 NPs by NaOH etching showed hierarchically well-developed hollow structures. In the photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B, the HH TiO2 NFs showed significantly enhanced photocatalytic characteristics compared to pristine TiO2 NFs.