Preparation and Characterization of Fe ³⁺ , La ³⁺ Co-Doped Tio ² Nanofibers and Its Photocatalytic Activity

Nanofibers of Fe ³⁺ , La ³⁺ co-doped titanium dioxide (TiO ₂ )/Polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) composite have been prepared by electrospinning process. The ceramic nanofibers co-doped with metal ions were obtained by high temperature calcination of the organic/inorganic composite fibers. The structure, crystalline state and surface morphologies were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and atomic force microscope (AFM), respectively. The observation by SEM revealed that there was a significant difference in the fibrous structure of the nanofibers before and after co-doping and calcinating. XRD patterns indicated the lattice of TiO ₂ nanocrystalline were distorted by co-doped ions. FTIR spectrum further confirmed the presence of Fe and La oxidate in the co-doped nanofibers. AFM images showed that comparing to TiO ₂ nanofibers, the roughness was increased on the surface of co-doped nanofibers. Before and after doping, the photocatalysis activity of the nanofibers were analyzed using ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer (UV-Vis). The photocatalysis activity were significantly improved by the porous roughness surface structure and cooperative actions of Fe ³⁺ , La ³⁺ co-doping.