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. 2023 Apr 7;13(1):5716.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-28992-4.

C,N co-doped TiO2 hollow nanofibers coated stainless steel meshes for oil/water separation and visible light-driven degradation of pollutants

Chunyu Wang  1   2 , Yingze Liu  2 , Hao Han  1 , Desheng Wang  1 , Jieyi Chen  3 , Renzhi Zhang  3 , Shixiang Zuo  3   4 , Chao Yao  3   4 , Jian Kang  5 , Haoguan Gui  6   7   8
Affiliations

C,N co-doped TiO2 hollow nanofibers coated stainless steel meshes for oil/water separation and visible light-driven degradation of pollutants

Chunyu Wang et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Complex pollutants are discharging and accumulating in rivers and oceans, requiring a coupled strategy to resolve pollutants efficiently. A novel method is proposed to treat multiple pollutants with C,N co-doped TiO2 hollow nanofibers coated stainless steel meshes which can realize efficient oil/water separation and visible light-drove dyes photodegradation. The poly(divinylbenzene-co-vinylbenzene chloride), P(DVB-co-VBC), nanofibers are generated by precipitate cationic polymerization on the mesh framework, following with quaternization by triethylamine for N doping. Then, TiO2 is coated on the polymeric nanofibers via in-situ sol-gel process of tetrabutyl titanate. The functional mesh coated with C,N co-doped TiO2 hollow nanofibers is obtained after calcination under nitrogen atmosphere. The resultant mesh demonstrates superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic property which is promising in oil/water separation. More importantly, the C,N co-doped TiO2 hollow nanofibers endow the mesh with high photodegradation ability to dyes under visible light. This work draws an affordable but high-performance multifunctional mesh for potential applications in wastewater treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic preparation of the C,N co-doped TiO2 hollow nanofibers coated mesh.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) SEM image of P(DVB-CH2N+Cl−) nanofibers coated mesh; (b) TEM image of P(DVB-CH2N+Cl−) nanofiber; (c) SEM image of P(DVB-CH2N+Cl−)@TiO2 nanofibers coated mesh; (d) TEM image of P(DVB-CH2N+Cl−)@TiO2 nanofiber; (e) SEM image of TN450 coated mesh; (f) TEM image of TiO2 hollow nanofiber; (g) high resolution TEM image of TiO2 hollow nanofiber; (h) the corresponding selected-area electron diffraction pattern.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) XPS spectra of PDVB-CH2N+Cl− coated mesh, PDVB-CH2N+Cl−@TiO2 coated mesh and TN450 coated mesh; (b) the deconvoluted C 1s and N 1s spectra of PDVB-CH2N+Cl− coated mesh and TN450 coated mesh.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The XRD spectrum of PDVB-CH2N+Cl−@TiO2 and TN450.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(a) The water contact angle versus surface chemistry of the coated mesh; (b) Under water oil contact angle of TN450 coated mesh (model oil: chloroform, toluene, n-heptane, and diesel).
Figure 6
Figure 6
(a–c) Separation of n-heptane/dyed water mixture.
Figure 7
Figure 7
(a) The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue with TN450 coated mesh versus irradiation time under UV light; (b) the recyclable experiment of methylene blue degradation under UV light; (c) the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue with TN450 coated mesh versus irradiation time under visible light; (d) the recyclable experiment of methylene blue degradation under visible light.
Figure 8
Figure 8
(a) The XPS spectrum of TA450 coated mesh and TN550 coated mesh; (b) The XRD spectrum of TN550 and TA450; (c) the photocatalytic performance of TA450 and TN550 coated mesh under visible light; (d) variations of − ln(C/C0) versus irradiation time with neat mesh, TN450, TA450, and TN550 coated meshes under visible light; (e) the UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectrum of TN450, TN550 and TA450 coated mesh; (f) Possible photocatalytic degradation mechanism of methylene blue by the TN450 coated mesh.
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