Electrospun strontium titanata nanofibers incorporated with nickel oxide nanoparticles for improved photocatalytic activities

Abdulaziz Alharbi; Ibrahim M. Alarifi; Waseem S. Khan; Ramazan Asmatulu

doi:10.1117/12.2180357

27 March 2015 Electrospun strontium titanata nanofibers incorporated with nickel oxide nanoparticles for improved photocatalytic activities

Abdulaziz Alharbi, Ibrahim M. Alarifi, Waseem S. Khan, Ramazan Asmatulu

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9439, Smart Materials and Nondestructive Evaluation for Energy Systems 2015; 94390F (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2180357
Event: SPIE Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, 2015, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The inexpensive sources of fossil fuels in the world are limited, and will deplete soon because of the huge demand on the energy and growing economies worldwide. Thus, many research activities have been focused on the non-fossil fuel based energy sources, and this will continue next few decades. Water splitting using photocatalysts is one of the major alternative energy technologies to produce hydrogen directly from water using photon energy of the sun. Numerous solid photocatalysts have been used by researchers for water splitting. In the present study, nickel oxide and strontium titanata were chosen as photocatalysts for water splitting. Poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) was incorporated with nickel oxide [Ni₂O₃] (co-catalyst), while poly (vinyl acetate) (PVAc) was mixed with titanium (IV) isopropoxide [C₁₂H₂₈O₄Ti] and strontium nitrate [Sr(NO₃)₂]. Then, two solutions were electrospun using coaxial electrospinning technique to generate nanoscale fibers incorporated with NiOx nanoparticles. The fibers were then heat treated at elevated temperatures for 2hr in order to transform the strontium titanata and nickel oxide into crystalline form for a better photocatalytic efficiency. The morphology of fibers was characterized via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), while the surface hydrophobicity was determined using water contact angle goniometer. The UV-vis spectrophotometer was also used to determine the band gap energy values of the nanofibers. This study may open up new possibilities to convert water into fuel directly using the novel photocatalysts.

Citation Download Citation

Abdulaziz Alharbi, Ibrahim M. Alarifi, Waseem S. Khan, and Ramazan Asmatulu "Electrospun strontium titanata nanofibers incorporated with nickel oxide nanoparticles for improved photocatalytic activities", Proc. SPIE 9439, Smart Materials and Nondestructive Evaluation for Energy Systems 2015, 94390F (27 March 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2180357

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available