Fabrication and Utilization of Titania Nanofibers from Natural Leucoxene Mineral in Photovoltaic Applications

Abstract

TiO(2) nanofibers were synthesized from natural leucoxene mineral via a hydrothermal process. The shapes, crystalline structure, shape transformation, phase transformation, and specific surface area of the resulting nanostructured materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area measurements. The size of prepared nanofibers was about 12-58 nm in width and about 3-22 mu m in length. The BET surface area of the prepared sample was about 55 m(2)/g. Obtained nanofibers were preliminarily applied as photocatalysts for hydrogen evolution and electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). (C) 2011 The Japan Society of Applied Physics