General Strategy for a Large-Scale Fabric with Branched Nanofiber-Nanorod Hierarchical Heterostructure: Controllable Synthesis and Applications

The preparation and characterization of a branched nanofiber-nanorod hierarchical heterostructure fabric (TiO2/NiO, TiO2/ZnO, and TiO2/SnO2) are described. The nanomaterial was synthesized on a large scale by an inexpensive, generalizable, facile, and controllable approach by combining the electrospinning technique with a hydrothermal method. The controllable formation process and factors (assistance by hexamethylenetetramine and metal oxide nuclei) influencing the morphology of the branched hierarchical heterostructure are discussed. in addition, photocurrent and photocatalytic studies suggest that the branched hierarchical heterostructure fabric shows higher mobility of charge carriers and enhanced photocatalytic activity relative to a bare TiO2 nanofibrous mat and other heterostructures under irradiation by light. This work demonstrates the possibility of growing branched heterostructure fabrics of various uniform, one-dimensional, functional metal oxide nanorods on a TiO2 nanofibrous mat, which has a tunable morphology by changing the precursor. The study may open a new channel for building hierarchical heterostructure device fabrics with optical and catalytic properties, and allow the realization of a new class of nano-heterostructure devices.