Degradation of phenol by air and polyoxometalate nanofibers using a continuous mode

Nanofibers were synthesized by an electrospinning technique using a polymer as a support and polyoxometalates (POMs) as dopants. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, 31P MAS NMR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and a high resolution transmission electron microscope (TEM) were used to characterize the resulting hybrids. These POM nanofiber catalysts could provide a continuous flowing mode to promote the oxidative degradation of phenol into simpler inorganic species using air (O2) as an oxidant at room temperature through nine cycles. The leaching of POMs from the nanofibers was minor, showing that the catalyst had excellent stability and could be used as a heterogeneous structure.