Preparation and characterization of poly-hydrogen cyanide nanofibers with high visible light photocatalytic activity

• Novel poly-hydrogen cyanide nanofibers were prepared by directly heating the formamide.
• Poly-hydrogen cyanide nanofibers have a diameter of 100–250 nm and length of 1–2 μm.
• The structure of poly-hydrogen cyanide nanofibers is confirmed (HCN)x polymer.
• Poly-hydrogen cyanide nanofibers exhibit much more efficiency by degradation of methyl orange than N-TiO2 under visible light irradiation.

Poly-hydrogen cyanide (PHC) nanofibers were prepared by directly heating the formamide (HCONH2) in a stainless-steel autoclave at 200 °C. The composition and structure of the products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectrum, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform IR, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results showed that the as-prepared nanofibers are graphite-like structure C/N ratio of 1.23. The as-prepared nanofibers exhibited higher photocatalytic activities by degradation of methyl orange (MO) than N-TiO2 under visible light irradiation.

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