Highly elastic Al/Si@TiO2 nanotubes fabricated from SBS/ALD strategy toward water purification applications

High-performance TiO 2 nanotube materials are highly demanded across various fields spanning thermal insulation, catalyst supports, filtration, and so on. However, the practical applications of hollow nanotubes are constrained by the low efficiency and uncontrollable structural properties. Herein, mass production of flexible and high catalytic hollow Al/Si@TiO 2 nanotubes were realized. Through solution blow spinning and atomic layer deposition processes, TiO 2 coated Al/Si@PAN core–shell nanofiber intermediate product was obtained with high efficiency. Hollow tubular structure of Al/Si@TiO 2 nanotubes with wall thicknesses among 150–350 nm was successfully replicated by sacrificing PAN core fibers template through a high-temperature pyrolysis process. Organic polysiloxane and polyalumina were employed as the internal supports to enhance the toughness and elasticity of the hollow Al/Si@TiO 2 nanotube products. Diameters of hollow Al/Si@TiO 2 nanotubes can be controlled ranging from 0.5-2.5 μm through adjusting the flow rate among 10–30 mL/h and air pressure among 0.2–0.4 MPa. Pyrolyzed hollow Al/Si@TiO 2 nanotubes exhibited remarkable elasticity with the compression strain of over 60 %. Hollow Al/Si@TiO 2 nanotubes demonstrated a methylene blue degradation efficiency of reached 61 % and outstanding reusability over multiple cycles, which held promising potential for utilization in high efficiency purification and remediation of water pollutants.