• Carbon letters
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.28-33
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• 2010

In this study, $TiO_2$-Activated carbon (AC) complex fibers were prepared by electrospinning for the synergetic effect of adsorption and degradation of organic pollutant. The average diameter of these fibers increased with increasing the amount of AC added, except for 1AC-TOF (AC$/TiO_2$ =1/40 mass ratio). After calcinations at $500^{\circ}C$, long as-spun fibers were broken and their average diameter was slightly decreased. The resultant fibers after calcination had rough surface and sphere shapes like a peanut. From XRD results, it was confirmed that as-spun fibers were changed to anatase $Ti_O2$ fiber after calcinations at $500^{\circ}C$. The prepared $TiO_2$-AC complex fibers could remove procian blue dyes by solar light irradiation with high removal property of 94~99%. The PB dye was rapidly removed by adsorption during the initial 5 minutes. But after 5 minutes, dye removal was occurred by photodegradation. In this study, the most efficient AC/$TiO_2$ ratio of $TiO_2$-AC complex fibers was 5/40, showing the synergetic effect of adsorption and photodegradation. It is expected that the $TiO_2$-AC complex fibers can be used to remove of organic pollutants in water system.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.142-150
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• 2009

In this paper, non-treated ACF (Activated Carbon Fiber) /$TiO_2$ and Zn-treated ACF/$TiO_2$ were prepared. The prepared composites were characterized in terms of their structural crystallinity, elemental identification and photocatalytic activity. XRD patterns of the composites showed that the non-treated ACF/$TiO_2$ composite contained only typical single and clear anatase forms while the Zn-treated ACF/$TiO_2$ contained a mixed anatase and rutile phase with a unique ZnO peak. SEM results show that the titanium complex particles are uniformly distributed on and around the fiber and that the titanium complex particles are more regularly distributed on and around the ACF surfaces upon an increase of the $ZnCl_2$ concentration. These EDX spectra show the presence of peaks from the C, O and Ti elements. Moreover, peaks of the Zn element were observed in the Zn-treated ACF/$TiO_2$ composites. The prominent photocatalytic activity of the Zn-treated ACF/$TiO_2$ can be attributed to the three different effects of photo-degradation: doping, absorptivity by an electron transfer, and adsorptivity of porous ACFs between the Zn-$TiO_2$ and Zn-ACF.