Loading of porous TiO_2 film on PET fiber and its photocatalytic capability

The low temperature TiO2 sol,with polystyrene(PS) microspheres as a template for porous structure,was coated by impregnation on the PET fibers that had been subjected to alkali deweighting treatment,and a series of photocatalytic TiO2/PET fibers were prepared.The TiO2 and fibers were characterized using XRD and SEM.The photocatalytic capability of the TiO2/PET fibers was investigated through degradation of methyl orange.The results indicated that anatase nano-TiO2 with higher photocatalytic activity was obtained after the sol ageing at room temperature.The loading of TiO2 on PET fiber surface increased with the increase of sol content in impregnating solution.The alkali deweighting of PET fibers contributed to the improvement of TiO2 loading and photocatalytic activity.With TiO2 loading rate increasing,the degradation rate of methyl orange increased first and then decreased slowly.The alkali deweighted TiO2/PET fiber showed best photocatalytic activity with TiO2 loading rate of 4.2%.The use of PS as a template makes the TiO2 film porous and hence further improves the photocatalytic activity of the fiber.