Preparation of titanium dioxide immobilized on carbon fibers annealed in steam ambient and their photocatalytic properties

Composites of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) immobilized on carbon fibers (CFs) were synthesized by a two-step process. Acid-treated CFs were dip-coated in a TiO 2 sol and then annealed under superheated steam ambient to form TiO 2 /CF composites. The effects of titanium sol concentration and annealing temperature on the micromorphology and phase structure of the TiO 2 /CF were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, respectively. The photocatalytic properties of the as-prepared TiO 2 /CFs were evaluated by photocatalytic degradation of acid orange II under ultraviolet light irradiation. The TiO 2 /CF composites prepared by superheated steam annealing exhibited a uniform surface morphology and high loading degree. The photocatalytic degradation of acid orange indicated that the TiO 2 /CF composites exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance and reached up to 98.7% degradation rate after 2.5 h of irradiation.