Synthesis and photocatalytic activities of CdS/TiO2 nanoparticles supported on carbon nanofibers for high efficient adsorption and simultaneous decomposition of organic dyes

CdS/TiO2 NPs-decorated carbon nanofibers were prepared by a simple electrospinning method followed by the calcination under argon atmosphere. As-synthesized nanocomposites exhibited a strong photocatalytic activity for decomposition of methylene blue (MB), reactive black 5, and reactive orange 16 under visible light radiation for many successive cycles. Moreover, in the dark, the carbon content revealed very good adsorption behavior as 95% of the dye was removed within 5 min, however less adsorption capacity was observed upon successive cycles. Therefore, the enhanced photocatalytic performance for the introduced nanofibers might be attributed to the adsorption characteristic of carbon nanofiber and the known photocatalytic activities of the TiO2 and CdS photocatalysts. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.