Effect of Pt Nanoparticles on the Photocatalytic Activity of ZnO Nanofibers

For this study, we originally realized ZnO nanofibers (similar to 50 nm in mean radius) mixed with Pt nanoparticles (similar to 30 nm in mean radius), prepared by pulsed laser ablation in liquid, and investigated their photocatalytic performance. The material was synthesized by the simple electrospinning method coupled with subsequent thermal treatments. Methylene blue was employed as a representative dye pollutant to evaluate the photocatalytic activity of the nanofibers. It was found that the Pt-ZnO fibers exhibit a photodegradation reaction rate that is similar to 40 % higher than the one obtained for reference ZnO fibers. These encouraging results demonstrate that Pt-ZnO nanofibers can be fruitfully applied for environmental applications.