Photocatalysis of yttrium doped BaTiO3 nanofibres synthesized by electrospinning

Abstract

Yttrium doped barium titanate (BT) nanofibres (NFs) with significant photocatalytic effect were successfully synthesized by electrospinning. Considering the necessary factors for semiconductor photocatalysts, a well-designed procedure was carried out to produce yttrium doped BT (BYT) NFs. In contrast to BYT ceramics powders and BT NFs, BYT NFs with pure perovskite phase showed much enhanced performance of photocatalysis. The surface modification in electrospinning and subsequent annealing, the surface spreading of transition metal yttrium, and the narrowed band gap energy in yttrium doping were all contributed to the final novel photocatalytic effect. This work provides a direct and efficient route to obtain doped NFs, which has a wide range of potential applications in areas based on complex compounds with specific surface and special doping effect.