Nasikhudin, Markus Diantoro, Ahmad Kusumaatmaja, Kuwat Triyana
A novel PVA/TiO2 nanofibers composite membranes that can be used for photocatalytic applications are synthesized by electrospinning methods. These new nanofibers membranes are prepared by better processing of the electrospun solution with the addition of sonication and surfactants. PVA/TiO2 composite nanofibers were observed by the characterization of SEM, EDAX, and FTIR. The characterization results showed the PVA/TiO2 composite nanofibers membranes have a good performance of photocatalytic. FTIR results showed functional PVA groups, and EDAX results showed TiO2 successfully inserted into the nanofibers membrane. The effects of processing with certain treatments, such as sonication and surfactant addition to the morphology and photocatalytic properties, were studied in the experiment. EDAX characterization shows that nanofibers with sonication have a TiO2 distribution along with an increase in the percentage of TiO2 up to 10.20%. This indicates that sonication can increase the electrospun solution to be more homogeneous. Nanofibers, with the addition of surfactants, have better TiO2 distribution, along with an increase in the percentage of TiO2 to 16.21%. The dye degradation ability of the PVA/TiO2 composite nanofibre membrane was investigated by the methylene blue photodegradation test under UV light. Methylene blue degradation was measured by UV vis spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the PVA/TiO2 composite nanofibre membrane reduced Methylene Blue up to 40%. Sonication treatment increases photocatalytic activity by up to 60%, and the addition of surfactants increases photocatalytic activity by up to 80%. © 2020 Author(s).
Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Malang, Jl. Semarang No. 5, Malang, 65145, Indonesia; Department of Physics, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, 55281, Indonesia; Center of Advanced Materials Sciences for Renewable Energy (CAMRY), Universitas Negeri Malang, Jl. Semarang No. 5, Malang, 65145, Indonesia
