Convenient fabrication of carbon-doped titania nanofibres by electrospinning

Carbon-doped titania nanofibres have been fabricated by the electrospinning technique using polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) solution and a titania non-aqueous sol followed by calcination. PMMA was used as a base polymer in the electrospinning solution to assist the formation of nanofibres and subsequently removed by the thermal treatment. The nanofibres were characterised using various techniques. The diameter of the titania nanofibres is in the range of 200-300-nm according to scanning electron microscopy observation. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results demonstrate that the carbon doping into titania nanofibres is achieved via calcining the PMMA/titania hybrid nanofibres at 400??C. The carbon-doped titania nanofibres exhibit good photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation.