Background:
Nanocomposites loaded with metal oxides, such as CuO and ZnO, have excellent
optical, electrical, mechanical and chemical properties, which result in their great potential applications
in optoelectronic devices, sensors, photocatalysts and other fields. Especially, electrospun metal-
oxide-loaded nanofibers have attracted much attention in many fields. However, the single-needle
Electrospinning (ES) inhibits the industrial application of these electrospun nanofiber composites.
Bubble-Electrospinning (BE) is an effective free surface ES for mass production of nanofiber membranes
loaded with metal oxide. Few relevant patents to the topic have been reviewed and introduced.
Methods:
The BE was used to prepare mass production of Cu(Ac)2 /Zn(Ac)2/ PVDF/ PAN Composite
Nanofiber Membranes (CNFMs). Then PVDF/PAN CNFMs containing CuO and ZnO nanocrystals
were obtained by heat-treatment. Finally, CuO nanosheets and ZnO nanorods were successfully grown
on the surface of PVDF/PAN CNFMs using hydrothermal method. In addition, the morphology and
crystal structure of CNFMs were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-Ray
Powder Diffractometer (XRD).
Results:
The morphology and crystal structure of the samples were characterized by SEM and XRD.
The results showed the heat treatment temperature of 150oC and the hydrothermal temperature of
150oC were the optimal process parameters for the fabrication of PVDF/PAN CNFMs loaded with
CuO and ZnO nanocrystals, and a higher heat treatment temperature results in higher crystallinity of
ZnO and CuO.
Conclusion:
CuO/ZnO/PVDF/PAN CNFMs were successfully prepared by a combination of BE, heattreatment
and hydrothermal method. The ZnO/CuO beads obtained by heat treatment is the key point
of growing ZnO/CuO nanocrystals, and the growth temperature has great effect on the morphology of
ZnO/CuO nanocrystals.
Synthesis of metal oxide photoanode with improved photoelectrochemical performance by hydrothermal method