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Zn(2)TiO(4)@carbon core/shell nanofibers (Zn(2)TiO(4)@C NFs) with different thickness of carbon layers (from 2 to 8 nm) were fabricated by combining the electrospinning technique and hydrothermal method. The results showed that a uniform carbon layer was formed around the electrospun Zn(2)TiO(4) nanofiber (Zn(2)TiO(4) NFs). By adjusting the hydrothermal fabrication parameters, the thickness of carbon layer varied linearly with the concentration of glucose. Furthermore, the core/shell structure formed between Zn(2)TiO(4) and carbon enhanced the charge separation of pure Zn(2)TiO(4) under ultraviolet excitation, as evidenced by photoluminescence spectra. The photocatalytic studies revealed that the Zn(2)TiO(4)@C NFs exhibited enhanced photocatalytic efficiency of photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RB) compared with the pure Zn(2)TiO(4) NFs under ultraviolet excitation, which might be attributed to the high separation efficiency of photogenerated electrons and holes based on the synergistic effect between carbon and Zn(2)TiO(4). Notably, the Zn(2)TiO(4)@C NFs could be recycled easily by sedimentation without a decrease of the photocatalytic activity., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

One-dimensional 2,9,16,23-tetra-nitrophthalocyanine iron(II) (TNFePc)/TiO(2) nanofiber heterostructures have been successfully obtained by a simple combination of electrospinning technique and solvothermal process. The as-obtained products were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and IR spectrum. The results revealed that the TNFePc nanosheets were successfully grown on the primary TiO(2) nanofibers. And, the coverage density of the secondary TNFePc nanostructures could be controlled by adjusting the experimental parameters. Photocatalytic tests displayed that the H(2)O(2) assisted TNFePc/TiO(2) nanofiber heterostructures (TNFePc/TiO(2)-H(2)O(2)) possessed a much higher degradation rate of methyl orange than the pure TiO(2) and TNFePc/TiO(2) nanofiber without H(2)O(2) under visible light. Moreover, the TNFePc/TiO(2) nanofiber heterostructures could be easily recycled without the decrease of the photocatalytic activity due to their one-dimensional nanostructural property of TiO(2) nanofibers., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Carbon nanofibers/silver nanoparticles (CNFs/AgNPs) composite nanofibers were fabricated by two steps consisting of the preparation of the CNFs by electrospinning and the hydrothermal growth of the AgNPs on the CNFs. The as-prepared nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, resonant Raman spectra, thermal gravimetric and differential thermal analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. The results indicated that not only were AgNPs (25-50 nm) successfully grown on the CNFs but also the AgNPs were distributed without aggregation on the CNFs. Further more, by adjusting the parameters in hydrothermal processing, the content of silver supported on the CNFs could be easily controlled. The catalytic activities of the CNFs/AgNPs composite nanofibers to the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) with NaBH(4) were tracked by UV-visible spectroscopy. It was suggested that the CNFs/AgNPs composite nanofibers exhibited high catalytic activity in the reduction of 4-NP, which might be attributed to the high surface areas of AgNPs and synergistic effect on delivery of electrons between CNFs and AgNPs. And, the catalytic efficiency was enhanced with the increasing of the content of silver on the CNFs/AgNPs composite nanofibers. Notably, the CNFs/AgNPs composite nanofibers could be easily recycled due to their one-dimensional nanostructural property., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011)

TiO(2)@carbon core/shell nanofibers (TiO(2)@C NFs) with different thinkness of carbon layers (from 2 to 8 nm) were fabricated by combining the electrospinning technique and hydrothermal method. The results showed that a uniform graphite carbon layer was formed around the electrospun TiO(2) nanofiber via C-O-Ti bonds. By adjusting the hydrothermal fabrication parameters, the thickness of carbon layer could be easily controlled. Furthermore, the TiO(2)@C NFs had remarkable light absorption in the visible region. The photocatalytic studies revealed that the TiO(2)@C NFs exhibited enhanced photocatalytic efficiency of photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RB) compared with the pure TiO(2) nanofibers under visible light irradiation, which might be attributed to high separation efficiency of photogenerated electrons and holes based on the synergistic effect between carbon as a sensitizer and TiO(2) with one dimension structure. Notably, the TiO(2)@C NFs could be easily recycled due to their one-dimensional nanostructural property.

In the present work, 2,9,16,23-tetranitrophthalocyanine copper(II) (TNCuPc)/TiO(2) hierarchical nanostructures were successfully fabricated by a simple combination method of electrospinning technique and solvothermal processing. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis diffuse reflectance (DR), Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and thermal gravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) were used to characterize the as-synthesized TNCuPc/TiO(2) hierarchical nanostructures. The results showed that the secondary TNCuPc nanostructures were not only successfully grown on the primary TiO(2) nanofibers substrates but also uniformly distributed without aggregation. By adjusting the solvothermal fabrication parameters, the TNCuPc nanowires or nanoflowers were facilely fabricated, and also the loading amounts of TNCuPc could be controlled on the TNCuPc/TiO(2) hierarchical nanostructural nanofibers. And, there might exist the interaction between TNCuPc and TiO(2). A possible mechanism for the formation of TNCuPc/TiO(2) hierarchical nanostructures was suggested. The photocatalytic studies revealed that the TNCuPc/TiO(2) hierarchical nanostructures exhibited enhanced photocatalytic efficiency of photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RB) compared with the pure TNCuPc or TiO(2) nanofibers under visible-light irradiation.

In this work, V-doped TiO(2) nanofibers with different V contents have been fabricated by an electrospinning technique. The as-prepared nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance (DR) spectroscopy. The results indicated that the V(4+) or V(5+) ions were successfully incorporated into the crystal lattice of anatase TiO(2) nanofibers. Meanwhile, the V doping could extend the visible light absorption of TiO(2) nanofibers. The photocatalytic experiments indicated that the obtained V-doped TiO(2) nanofibers possessed high activity for the photodegradation of organic pollutant methylene blue (MB). Especially, the 1.0 and 5.0 wt.% V-doped TiO(2) nanofibers exhibited the best catalytic activity under visible and ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation, respectively. Also, these nanofibers could be easily recycled without a decrease of the photocatalytic activity., (Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

One-dimensional electrospun nanofibers of p-type NiO/n-type ZnO heterojunctions with different molar ratios of Ni to Zn were successfully synthesized using a facile electrospinning technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis diffuse reflectance (DR) spectroscopy, resonant Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, and surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPS) were used to characterize the as-synthesized nanofibers. The results indicated that the p-n heterojunctions formed between the cubic structure NiO and hexangular structure ZnO in the NiO/ZnO nanofibers. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the as-electrospun NiO/ZnO nanofibers for the degradation of rhodamine B (RB) was much higher than that of electrospun NiO and ZnO nanofibers, which could be ascribed to the formation of p-n heterojunctions in the NiO/ZnO nanofibers. In particular, the p-type NiO/n-type ZnO heterojunction nanofibers with the original Ni/Zn molar ratio of 1 exhibited the best catalytic activity, which might be attributed to their high separation efficiency of photogenerated electrons and holes. Notably, the electrospun nanofibers of p-type NiO/n-type ZnO heterojunctions could be easily recycled without a decrease of the photocatalytic activity due to their one-dimensional nanostructural property.

Metal–organic framework (MOF) materials have been extensively incorporated with inorganic semiconductor photocatalysts to improve their photocatalytic activity through an efficient charge transfer process across their heterointerface. In this work, octahedral UiO-66-NH2 MOFs with edge-lengths of 110–330 nm are uniformly decorated on the surface of TiO2 electrospun nanofibers by a traditional solvothermal method combined with activation pretreatment. Before the solvothermal growth of UiO-66-NH2, the TiO2 electrospun nanofibers were activated in NaOH solution to etch the TiO2 surface for allowing the exposure of lattice oxygen. The exposed lattice oxygen on the TiO2 surface could interact with the MOF precursor of Zr4+ ions, thus enabling octahedral UiO-66-NH2 to grow uniformly on the surface of TiO2 nanofibers with an intimate Ti–O–Zr hetero-interface. Such an intimate hetero-interface provides an effective channel for boosting the electron transfer between UiO-66-NH2 and TiO2 in their heterostructure. Thus, the UiO-66-NH2/TiO2(anatase) heterostructures exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity for H2 production as compared to either TiO2(anatase) nanofibers or UiO-66-NH2 nanooctahedra in the presence of Rhodamine B (RhB) as a sensitizer under visible light irradiation. In particular, the decoration of UiO-66-NH2 nanooctahedra on anatase/rutile mixed TiO2 nanofibers could induce further enhancement of the photocatalytic H2 production. The enhanced photocatalytic activity is attributed to the multi-step continuous interfacial transfer of photoinduced electrons with the way of RhB → UiO-66-NH2 → TiO2(anatase) → TiO2(rutile). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rational arrangement of nanosized semiconductor components in the multi-heterojunction photocatalyst can lead to the formation of a high-speed transport channel for charge-carriers separation and migration, which provides a promising way to achieve excellent photocatalytic efficiency for solar fuels generation. Herein, we develop a photo-assisted self-optimization strategy to re-build the charge-carriers transport channel in the copper species nanocrystals/TiO 2 electrospun nanofibers with the organic hydrogen-carrier molecules as the photo-reactants. As a result of the dynamics difference of the excitons migration during the photocatalytic process, the binary CuO/TiO 2 heterojunction nanofibers are recrystallized to form the quaternary Cu/Cu 2 O/CuO/TiO 2 multi-heterojunction nanofibers that exhibits a higher rate constant ( ∼ 1.7 × 10 8 S − 1 ) for the interfacial electron-transfer than the former nanofibers ( ∼ 0.7 × 10 8 S − 1 ) due to the improved charge-carriers transport channel. In this way, a 40-fold enhanced H 2 generation rate was observed on the recrystallized nanofibers photocatalyst during the photocatalytic decomposition of formic acid as compared to the pure TiO 2 nanofibers. Our work presents an available paradigm to skillfully use a transient photo-physicochemical process to mildly engineer a high-quality charge-carriers transport channel in the hetero-nanophotocatalyst for realizing an optimal photocatalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present high-yield hydrogen production through selective photocatalytic decomposition of formic acid by using electrospun TiO 2 nanofibers decorated with AuPd bimetallic alloy nanoparticles under simulated sunlight irradiation. By using only 5 mg of the AuPd/TiO 2 nanofibers containing the 0.75% Au and 0.25% Pd, we could achieve an optimal H 2 generation rate of 88.5 μmol h −1 with an apparent quantum yield at 365 nm as 15.6%, which is higher than that of the Pd/TiO 2 and Au/TiO 2 nanofibers by a factor of 1.6 and 4.5, respectively. The enhanced photocatalytic decomposition of formic acid for H 2 generation could be attributed to the stronger electron-sink effect of AuPd alloy nanoparticles, the high selectivity of Pd for the dehydrogenation of formic acid, and the surface plasmon resonance effect of Au. More importantly, we demonstrate that the photocatalytic processes enable re-activation of the AuPd nanoparticles that were poisoned by CO during thermal decomposition of formic acid. As such, the presented AuPd/TiO 2 nanofibers are promising materials for re-generation of H 2 under mild conditions from liquid storage carrier of hydrogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One-dimensional (1D) Pt/TiO 2 hybrid nanofibers (HNFs) with different concentrations of Pt were fabricated by a facile two-step synthesis route combining an electrospinning technique and calcination process. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) results showed that the Pt nanoparticles (NPs) with the size of 5–10 nm were well dispersed in the TiO 2 nanofibers (NFs). Further investigations from the UV–Vis diffuse reflectance (DR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis revealed that some Pt ions were incorporated into the TiO 2 lattice as Pt 4+ state, which contributed to the visible light absorption of TiO 2 NFs. Meanwhile, the Pt 2+ ions existing on the surface of Pt NPs resulted in the formation of Pt–O–Ti bond at Pt NPs/TiO 2 NFs interfaces that might serve as an effective channel for improving the charge transfer. The as-electrospun Pt/TiO 2 HNFs exhibited remarkable activities for photocatalytic H 2 evolution under visible light irradiation in the presence of l -ascorbic acid as the sacrificial agent. In particular, the optimal HNFs containing 1.0 at% Pt showed the H 2 evolution rate of 2.91 μmol h −1 and apparent quantum efficiency of 0.04% at 420 nm by using only 5 mg of photocatalysts. The higher photocatalytic activity could be ascribed to the appropriate amount of Pt ions doping and excellent electron-sink effect of Pt NPs co-catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this work, V-doped TiO2 nanofibers with different V contents have been fabricated by an electrospinning technique. The as-prepared nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance (DR) spectroscopy. The results indicated that the V4+ or V5+ ions were successfully incorporated into the crystal lattice of anatase TiO2 nanofibers. Meanwhile, the V doping could extend the visible light absorption of TiO2 nanofibers. The photocatalytic experiments indicated that the obtained V-doped TiO2 nanofibers possessed high activity for the photodegradation of organic pollutant methylene blue (MB). Especially, the 1.0 and 5.0wt.% V-doped TiO2 nanofibers exhibited the best catalytic activity under visible and ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation, respectively. Also, these nanofibers could be easily recycled without a decrease of the photocatalytic activity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Highly dispersed ZnO quantum dots (QDs) in poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) nanofibers have been successfully prepared by electrospinning technique. The structure and optical properties were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), resonant Raman spectra, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermal gravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG–DTA), ultraviolet (UV)–vis absorption spectra, and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. In the PVP/ZnO QDs composite nanofibers, PVP molecules could effectively prevent the aggregation of ZnO QDs and passivate the surface defects of ZnO QDs. Thus, by comparing ZnO QDs, the composite nanofibers exhibited a blue-shifted band gap and enhanced ultraviolet (UV) emission. Furthermore, the composite nanofibers prepared at higher voltage showed more intense UV emission than which obtained at lower voltage, suggesting that the UV emission intensity of the composite nanofibers could be controlled by adjusting the electrospinning voltage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Macrostructural flexible photocatalysts have been proven to have desirable recyclable properties during the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants in water. However, the photocatalytic activities of these photocatalysts are often unsatisfactory due to the fast recombination of charge carriers and the limited surface active sites. Herein, we developed a novel flexible photocatalyst of AgBr/BiOBr/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) composite mats (CMs) through the controllable assembly of AgBr/BiOBr nano-heterostructures on electrospun polyacrylonitrile nanofibers (PAN NFs) via a three-step synthesis route. The component ratio of AgBr to BiOBr in the CMs could be easily adjusted by controlling the in situ ion exchange process. The charge–transfer process occurring at the interface of the AgBr/BiOBr nano-heterostructures strongly hindered the recombination of photoinduced electron–hole pairs, thereby effectively enhancing the photocatalytic activity of the AgBr/BiOBr/PAN CMs. Meanwhile, the unique hierarchical inorganic/organic heterostructure of the AgBr/BiOBr/PAN CMs not only led to good flexibility, but also provided an abundance of active sites for photocatalytic reactions. Upon visible-light irradiation, AgBr/BiOBr/PAN CMs with an optimal ratio of AgBr to BiOBr components exhibited both enhanced photocatalytic activity and excellent separability during the degradation of methyl orange in water compared to the BiOBr/PAN CMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of industry, organic pollutants and bacterial contamination in water resources are becoming increasingly severe. Photocatalysis is an effective approach to address this problem. ZnO, as a traditional n- type semiconductor photocatalyst, has a relatively wide bandgap, which results in a narrow range of light absorption and quick recombination of photogenerated charge carriers, thus limiting its development. In this work, we constructed p -type CuO/ n -type ZnO heterojunction nanofibers (HNFs) to extend the light harvesting range and improve the migration and separation of the photoinduced electrons and holes across the hetero-interface through. Afterwards, Ag nanoparticles were introduced into above HNF matrix to reinforce the photocatalytic activity. Results showed that, upon simulated sunlight irradiation, the Ag NPs-decorated p- type CuO/ n- type ZnO HNFs exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activities. After 20 min of simulated sunlight irradiation, approximately 98.5% of MB was degraded by 1.0 at% Ag NPs-decorated p- type CuO/ n- type ZnO HNFs. Additionally, after 10 min of irradiation, the disinfection efficiency of HNFs for Escherichia coli was > 99.99%. It is worth noting that this study has opened up a new pathway for the rational design of p-n junction photocatalysts with superior charge transfer properties, to achieve remarkable photocatalytic disinfection and degradation activities. [Display omitted] • A p -type CuO/ n -type ZnO photocatalyst was prepared, leading to the broadening of photoabsorption in the visible region. • The CuO/ZnO nanofibers possess excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of MB and disinfection of E. coli. • To further enhance the activity of binary photocatalysts, Ag nanoparticles were successfully modified on CuO/ZnO HNFs. • Ag nanoparticles-modified CuO/ZnO HNFs photocatalysts exhibit rapid dye degradation and bactericidal activity (<30 min). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• TiO 2 /Cu 2 O/CuO CNFs is produced via a photoinduced phase-transition on the TiO 2 /CuO CNFs. • The TiO 2 /Cu 2 O/CuO CNFs exhibited the enhanced sensing property for glucose. • The sensitivity of TiO 2 /Cu 2 O/CuO CNFs depends on the TiO 2 content in the CNFs. • The sensing property of TiO 2 /Cu 2 O/CuO CNFs electrode is recoverable via the light irradiation. • The CNFs electrode possesses a good long-term stability, high anti-interference ability, and good reproducibility. The TiO 2 /Cu 2 O/CuO composite nanofibers (CNFs) were obtained via the photoinduced phase-transition process occurring in the electrospun TiO 2 /CuO CNFs. The TiO 2 /Cu 2 O/CuO CNFs electrode showed the higher sensitivity (2074.7 µA·mM−1·cm−2; 0–2 mM) than the pure CuO NFs, TiO 2 NFs, and TiO 2 / CuO CNFs electrodes, respectively. The enhanced glucose sensing performance is attributed to the existence of multiple valence-states and redox-couples in TiO 2 /Cu 2 O/CuO CNFs to promote the redox reaction. [Display omitted] Constructing metal-oxide-based composites with the multiple valence-states and redox-couples has been proved as an effective strategy to enhance the performance of non-enzymatic glucose sensing. Herein, we report a mild and efficient method to prepare multiple-valent copper-based oxide composite nanofibers (Cu x O CNFs) through introducing the TiO 2 photosensitizer into the CuO NFs for actuating the localized phase transition from tenorite CuO (Cu2+) to cuprite Cu 2 O (Cu+) upon UV–visible light irradiation. The sensitivity of the obtained TiO 2 /Cu 2 O/CuO CNFs for glucose sensing (0–2 mM) could be enhanced by 1.12–1.31 times as compared to that of the TiO 2 /CuO CNFs. The enhanced sensitivity is dependent on the TiO 2 -content in the primal TiO 2 /CuO CNFs. When introducing 5.0 at.% of TiO 2 into the CuO nanofibers, the photoinduced phase-transition process could result in the formation of optimal TiO 2 /Cu 2 O/CuO CNFs with the component ratio of Cu 2 O to CuO at 0.46:1. This TiO 2 /Cu 2 O/CuO CNFs (2074.7 µA·mM−1·cm−2; 0.25 µM) exhibited nearly 1.32-fold improvement on the sensitivity and 3.0-fold enhancement on the detection limit as compared to the corresponding values of the pure CuO electrospun nanofibers (1581 µA·mM−1·cm−2; 0.75 µM). After the continuous measurements for 14 days, the sensitivity of the optimal sample could maintain 89.4% of its initial value. Notably, its sensitivity could be further recovered to 97.4% of the initial value after UV–visible light irradiation for 1 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: One-dimensional 2,9,16,23-tetra-nitrophthalocyanine iron(II) (TNFePc)/TiO2 nanofiber heterostructures have been successfully obtained by a simple combination of electrospinning technique and solvothermal process. The as-obtained products were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and IR spectrum. The results revealed that the TNFePc nanosheets were successfully grown on the primary TiO2 nanofibers. And, the coverage density of the secondary TNFePc nanostructures could be controlled by adjusting the experimental parameters. Photocatalytic tests displayed that the H2O2 assisted TNFePc/TiO2 nanofiber heterostructures (TNFePc/TiO2–H2O2) possessed a much higher degradation rate of methyl orange than the pure TiO2 and TNFePc/TiO2 nanofiber without H2O2 under visible light. Moreover, the TNFePc/TiO2 nanofiber heterostructures could be easily recycled without the decrease of the photocatalytic activity due to their one-dimensional nanostructural property of TiO2 nanofibers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The 3D open Bi2MoO6/ZnTiO3 hierarchical heterostructures with Bi2MoO6 ultrathin nanosheets (<10nm) grown on hexagonal-phase ZnTiO3 nanofibers were fabricated by combining the electrospinning technique and solvothermal method. And, the Bi2MoO6/ZnTiO3 hierarchical heterostructures had remarkable light absorption in the visible region. The photocatalytic studies revealed that the hierarchical heterostructures system exhibited exceptional photocatalytic activity in visible-light degradation of Rhodamine B, which might be attributed to the synergistic system with excellent charge separation characteristics and the unique morphology of Bi2MoO6 nanosheets with the extended absorption in the visible light region. What is more, the 3D open structure supported on nanofibrous candidates possessed large surface areas and excellent recyclability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A novel photocatalyst of nanostructured cadmium phthalocyanine (CdPc) immobilized on the surface of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers had been successfully fabricated by a simple combination of electrospinning technique and the solvent-thermal process. FE-SEM micrographs indicated that the nanostructured CdPc uniformly immobilized on the surface of PAN nanofibers without agglomeration. And the obtained CdPc/PAN composite nanofibers exhibited high visible light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B. Moreover, this photocatalyst could be easily separated for reuse due to the one-dimensional nanostructural property of the CdPc/PAN composite nanofibers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Tin oxide (SnO2)/carbon nanofibers (CNFs) heterostructures were fabricated by combining the versatility of the electrospinning technique and template-free solvent–thermal process. The results revealed that the SnO2 nanostructures were successfully grown on the primary electrospun carbon nanofibers substrates. And, the coverage density of SnO2 nanoparticles coating on the surface of the CNFs could be controlled by simply adjusting the mass ratio of CNFs to SnCl4·5H2O in the precursor during the solvent–thermal process for the fabrication of SnO2/CNFs heterostructures. The electrochemical performances of the SnO2/CNFs heterostructures as the electrode materials for supercapacitors were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge–discharge measurement in 1M H2SO4 solution. At different scan rates, all the samples with different coverage densities of SnO2 showed excellent capacitance behavior. And, the sample CS2 (the mass ratio of CNFs to SnCl4·5H2O reached 1:7) exhibited a maximum specific capacitance of 187F/g at a scan rate of 20mV/s. Moreover, after 1000 cycles, the specific capacitance retention of this sample was over 95%. The high capacitive behavior could be ascribed to the low resistance of SnO2/CNFs heterostructures and rapid transport of the electrolyte ions from bulk solution to the surface of SnO2. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]