Ytterbium Doped TiO 2 Nanofibers on Activated Carbon Fibers Enhances Adsorption and Photocatalytic Activities for Toluene Removal

Abstract The combination of activated carbon fiber (ACF) adsorbents and ytterbium‐doped TiO 2 (Yb‐TiO 2 ) photocatalysts is a promising strategy for toluene removal. Herein, we firstly constructed Yb‐TiO 2 /ACF porous materials (Yb‐TiACFs) by the treatment of TiO 2 /ACF porous materials (TiACFs) with Yb(NO 3 ) 3 solutions. The ultralong Yb‐TiO 2 nanofibers that were composed of many nanocrystals along [101] direction twisted around ACFs. The synergetic effects of Yb‐TiO 2 and ACFs promoted toluene adsorption, and the adsorption trends matched well with pseudo‐second‐order kinetics model. It was firstly found that ACFs and Yb 3+ dopants improved TiO 2 quantum efficiency by driving electron‐hole separation and enhancing light adsorption activity. Yb‐TiACFs promoted the photocatalytic oxidation of toluene, and the photocatalytic activity was better than TiO 2 nanocrystals (P25, Evonik Degussa). The toluene photodegradation trend on Yb‐TiACFs was fit well with apparent first‐order reaction kinetics model. The interesting findings demonstrated that Yb‐TiACFs were a promising platform for toluene removal via adsorption and photocatalysis synergetic effects.