• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.554-558
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• 2008

$(1-x)SiO_2-(x)TiO_2$ composite fibers with various compositions of $TiO_2$ were prepared by electrospinning their sol-gel precursors of titanium (IV) iso-propoxide (TiP), and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS). The surface morphology and structure of sintered composite fibers were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), simultaneous thermogravimetric analysis-differential scanning calorimetry (TGA-DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). As the content of $TiO_2$ in $(1-x)SiO_2-(x)TiO_2$ system was increased the average diameter of composite fibers was proportionally increased. Also, the transformation of $TiO_2$ from anatase to rutile form was inhibited by the highly dispersed $TiO_2$ around $SiO_2$ particles up to $0.6SiO_2-0.4TiO_2$ composite fibers even after calcination at $1000^{\circ}C$. The photocatalytic activity of $SiO_2-TiO_2$ composite fibers was examined for the methylene blue (MB) decomposition which was confirmed using UV-vis/DRS spectra. The experiments demonstrated that the MB in aqueous solution was successfully photodegraded using $SiO_2-TiO_2$ composite nanofibers under UV-visible light irradiation.