Mesoporous Molecular Sieve Derived TiO₂ Nanofibers Doped with SnO₂

Mesoporous silica spheres were used as templates to prepare 5 to ∼10 nm Sn doped TiO 2 (TDT) nanofibers using SnCl 4 and TiCl 4 as precursors. The as-made nanofibers were crystalline anatase but transformed into the rutile phase after annealing above 700 °C. The Sn dopant amount in the TDT nanofibers can be controlled by changing the molar ratio of SnCl 4 to TiCl 4 . The dopant Sn atoms were incorporated into the anatase lattice at a level of ∼15%. The photodegradation of various dyes was catalyzed by the TDT nanofibers and was shown to be more effective than P25 and the undoped TiO 2 nanofibers.