An article having a superhydrophobic or oleophobic ceramic polymer composite surface is formed by the coating of the surface with a fluid comprising a polymer, copolymer, or polymer precursor and a plurality of glass, ceramic, or ceramic-polymer particles. The particles have fluorinated surfaces and at least a portion of the polymer's repeating units that are fluorinated or perfluorinated. The composite can be a cross-linked polymer.

Mixed-phase TiO.sub.2 nanofibers prepared via a sol-gel technique followed by electrospinning and calcination are provided as photocatalysts. The calcination temperature is adjusted to control the rutile phase fraction in TiO.sub.2 nanofibers relative to the anatase phase. Post-calcined TiO.sub.2 nanofibers composed of 38 wt % rutile and 62 wt % anatase exhibited the highest initial rate constant of UV photocatalysis. This can be attributed to the combined influences of the fibers' specific surface areas and their phase compositions.

Traditionally, the manufacturing of ceramic metal oxide membranes is often expensive and extremely labor intensive due to the often necessary post-processing steps. The present invention discloses to a novel single-step process, to produce ceramic metal oxide membranes. More specifically, this invention relates to reactive electrospinning where a sol-gel solution containing alkoxides is electrically charged and formed a Taylor cone at the tip of a needle in an environment controlled chamber, and the Taylor cone rejects a continuous stream of alkoxide nanofibers which polymerized to form a ceramic metal oxide membrane (with and without a polymer substrate present). The manufactured membranes may be used for various applications, including dye sensitized solar cells and for carbon dioxide capturing.

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing macroscopic fibres of titanium dioxide (TiO.sub.2) by continuous extrusion in a one-way flow, to the macroscopic fibres of TiO.sub.2 that can be obtained by such a method, to the use of said fibres in heterogeneous photocatalysis for decontamination of organic pollutants from gaseous environments, and to a method for decontaminating gaseous environments, in particular air, using such fibres.

Organic-inorganic hybrid nanofibres comprising two phases: a first mineral phase comprising a structured mesoporous network with open porosity; and a second organic phase comprising an organic polymer, wherein said organic phase is basically not present inside the pores of the structured mesoporous network. A membrane and an electrode comprising said nanofibres. A fuel cell comprising said membrane and/or said electrode. A method of preparing said nanofibres by electrically assisted extrusion (electrospinning).