Visible-light-active Photocatalytic Microreactor with Fe-doped TiO2 Electrospun Nanofibers Bed for Degradation of Dyes in Water

The development of microreactors for photocatalytic applications presents valuable advantages like fine control of light and fluids, large surface-area to volume ratio and uniform distribution of light onto the photocatalyst surface [1]. In this study, a low cost and simple photocatalytic microreactor was fabricated using laser engraving on polymethyl-methacrylate(PMMA) wafer. Fe-doped TiO2 electrospun nanofibers were pasted on the floor of circular chambers as a photocatalytic bed. For evaluation of microreactor performance, the photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B(RhB) and Methylene Blue(MB) were investigated under visible light irradiation without any pH adjustment. The maximum photocatalytic degradation obtained in microreactor was 87% of 5 mg L-1 RhB for flow rate of 1 ml h-1. While This value was 79% for MB.