Preparation and photocatalytic activity of N–Ag co-doped TiO2/C porous ultrafine fibers mat

N–Ag co-doped TiO2/C porous ultrafine fibers mat was prepared by a sol–gel/electrospinning process using polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as a precursor and Ti (OC4H9)4, AgNO3, urea as titanium, silver, nitrogen source, respectively. The porous structure was obtained by etching SiO2 nano-particles. Structure and properties of the fibers mat were characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, UV–vis, Raman spectroscopy and N2 physical adsorption analysis. Silver ion and SiO2 nano-particles have a great influence on the crystallization of TiO2. The photocatalytic activity was measured by the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation. N–Ag co-doped TiO2/C fibers mat exhibited much higher photocatalytic destruction rate than P25. The photocatalytic efficiency of porous fibers mat increased by 11% after etching.