Photocatalytic self cleaning textile fibers by coaxial electrospinning

Photocatalytic self-cleaning textile fibers have been created using coaxial electrospinning. This is accomplished by electrospinning cellulose acetate as the core phase and a dispersion of nanocrystalline TiO₂, a well-known photocatalyst, in the sheath phase. A simple deacetylation step after the initial electrospinning yields self-cleaning textile fibers. Self-cleaning activity is exhibited at moderate power densities in indoor lighting conditions. Nanofibers created from coaxial electrospinning outperform TiO₂ surface-loaded nanofibers obtained by conventional electrospinning. Surface-loaded fibers degrade blue dye stains only to a minimum of 20% of the initial concentration, whereas fibers created by coaxial electrospinning fully degrade stains (in 7-8 h).