Air bubbles induced piezophotocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants using nanofibrous poly(vinylidene fluoride)-titanium dioxide hybrid

Abstract Flexible and porous poly (vinylidene fluoride)-titanium dioxide (PVDF-TiO 2 ) hybrid prepared by sequential electrospinning and electrospraying was investigated for piezoelectric-driven semiconductor photocatalysis (PDSP) application. FT-IR and XRD results confirmed the direct preparation of nanofibrous PVDF layer with piezo-responsive β- and γ-crystalline phases by electrospinning. FE-SEM and FTIR spectra discerned that the fibrous structure of PVDF support and its piezo crystalline forms were preserved even after the process of TiO 2 NPs deposition. In complementary to the visual observation by FE-SEM, XPS, and EDS, spectroscopical results confirmed the deposition of TiO 2 NPs on the piezo responsive PVDF support. XPS studies confirmed that 53% of the hybrid surface was covered by TiO 2 NPs. Under UV irradiated conditions, water bubble induced piezo activity enhanced the degradation of methylene blue (MB) by 99%. The PDSP efficacy of the hybrid was proportional to the extent of air bubble supply. The % of total organic carbon removal was 66, which indicate the mineralization of MB. The non-selective OH mediated photooxidation by this hybrid was found to be also suitable for degrading non-dye pollutants such as 4-aminophenol. Overall, PVDF-TiO 2 hybrid was found to be a potential PDSP useful for water remediation and detoxification.