Preparation and characterization of flexible and thermally stable CuO nanocrystal-decorated SiO2 nanofibers

Nanofibers functionalized by semiconductor nanocrystals are drawing increasing interest, due to their widespread applications in the fields of new energy development, environment protection and chemical sensing, etc. Herein, we demonstrate a simple approach to prepare CuO/SiO2 nanocomposite materials. The flexible SiO2 nanofibers were prepared via the sol–gel electrospinning techniques. CuO nanocrystals were grafted on the surface of SiO2 nanofibers by simply soaking and post-calcination. Micromorphology, structure and mechanical strength of SiO2/CuO nanocomposite fibers were investigated by SEM, TEM and stress–strain test. Photocatalytic water purification ability of SiO2/CuO nanofibers was evaluated by employing rhodamine B as a model pollutant. Our results indicated that the SiO2/CuO nanofibers were flexible, thermally resistant and photocatalytic reactive, which promise the potential application in environmental remediation.