Preparation of pod-shaped TiO 2 and Ag@TiO 2 nano burst tubes and their photocatalytic activity

The pod-shaped TiO 2 nano burst tubes (TiO 2 NBTs) were prepared by the combination of electrospinning and impregnation calcination with oxalic acid (H 2 C 2 O 4 ), polystyrene (PS) and tetrabutyl titanate. The silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were loaded onto the surface of TiO 2 NBTs by ultraviolet light reduction method to prepare pod-shaped Ag@TiO 2 NBTs. In this work, we analysed the effect of the amount of oxalic acid on the cracking degree of TiO 2 NBTs; the effect of the concentration of AgNO 3 solution on the particle size and loading of AgNPs on the surface of TiO 2 NBTs. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy investigated the surface morphology of samples. X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterized the structure and composition of samples. Rhodamine B (RhB) solution was used to evaluate the photocatalytic activity of pod-shaped TiO 2 NBTs and Ag@TiO 2 NBTs. The results showed that TiO 2 NBTs degraded 91.0% of RhB under ultraviolet light, Ag@TiO 2 NBTs degraded 95.5% under visible light for 75 and 60 min, respectively. The degradation process of both samples was consistent with the Langmuir–Hinshelwood first-order kinetic equation. Therefore, the catalytic performance of the sample is: Ag@TiO 2 NBTs > TiO 2 NBTs > TiO 2 nanotubes.