Modelling studies for photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes using TiO₂ nanofibers

In this work, modelling of the photocatalytic degradation of para-nitrophenol (PNP) using synthesized electrospun TiO₂ nanofibers under UV light illumination is reported. A dynamic model was developed in order to understand the behaviour of operating parameters, i.e. light intensity and catalyst loading on the photocatalytic activity. This model was simulated and analysed for both TiO₂ solid nanofibers and TiO₂ hollow nanofibers, applied as photocatalysts in the Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic framework. The entire photocatalytic degradation rate follows pseudo-first-order kinetics. The simulated results obtained from the developed model are in good agreement with the experimental results. At a catalyst loading of 1.0 mg mL^-1, better respective degradation rates were achieved at UV light irradiance of 4 mW cm^-2, for both the TiO₂ solid and hollow nanofibers. However, it was also observed that TiO₂ hollow nanofibers have a higher adsorption rate than that of TiO₂ solid nanofibers resulting in a higher photocatalytic degradation rate of PNP.