Novel hollow [alpha]-Fe^sub 2^O3 nanofibers via electrospinning for dye adsorption

• Published in: Nanoscale research letters 2015-04, Vol.10 (1), p.1
• Main Authors: Gao, Qiang, Luo, Jun, Wang, Xingyue, Gao, Chunxia, Ge, Mingqiao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1931-7573; 1556-276X
• DOI: 10.1186/s11671-015-0874-7

Nanomaterials such as iron oxides and ferrites have been intensively investigated for water treatment and environmental remediation applications. In this work, hollow [alpha]-Fe^sub 2^O3 nanofibers made of rice-like nanorods were successfully synthesized via a simple hydrothermal reaction on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofiber template followed by calcination. The crystallographic structure and the morphology of the as-prepared [alpha]-Fe^sub 2^O3 nanofibers were characterized by X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer, and scanning electron microscope. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted, and ultraviolet-visible spectra were recorded before and after the adsorption to investigate the dye adsorption performance. The results showed that hollow [alpha]-Fe^sub 2^O3 fiber assembles exhibited good magnetic responsive performance, as well as efficient adsorption for methyl orange in water. This work provided a versatile strategy for further design and development of functional nanofiber-nanoparticle composites towards various applications.