Cadmium oxide nanofibers and nanobelts and their photodegradation

Cadmium oxide (CdO) nanofibers and nanobelts have been successfully fabricated via calcination of the electrospinning-made PVP/Cd(NO₃)₂ composite nanofibers and nanobelts in air. The products were characterized by means of X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The obtained CdO nanofibers and nanobelts are cubic phase with space group of Fm-3m. CdO nanofibers have an average diameter of about 139 nm and a large length to diameter ratio, and the CdO nanobelts possess a width of ca. 2.43 μm and a thickness of ca. 144 nm. The formation mechanisms of CdO nanofibers and nanobelts are discussed. The photodegradation activities of the CdO nanofibers and nanobelts have been tested on degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under UV illumination, and the results reveal that CdO nanofibers possess higher photodegradation activity than CdO nanobelts. The mechanism for the CdO degradation of RhB is also proposed. The obtained results in this work lay the foundation for the preparation and photocatalytic investigation of metallic oxide one-dimensional nanostructures.