Experimental and DFT study of peapod-like Fe2(MoO4)3 nanofibers for photodegradation of ciprofloxacin

Abstract Peapod-like Fe2(MoO4)3 nanofibers have been fabricated via a facile electrospinning technique followed by calcination in air. The structure-property relationships of Fe2(MoO4)3 nanofibers are elucidated for the photodegradation of ciprofloxacin under simulated sunlight irradiation. The peapod-like Fe2(MoO4)3 nanofibers, benefiting from specific dimension effect and plenty of active sites, possess an excellent photodegradation rate of ciprofloxacin, and in addition, have a stronger light absorption capacity and reducing power than Fe2(MoO4)3 powders. Furthermore, the energy band structure, density of states, electronic location function, and free energy of Fe2(MoO4)3 nanofibers were simulated by density functional theory. This work could pave the way for understanding the photocatalytic mechanism of Fe2(MoO4)3 nanomaterials.