Enhanced photocatalytic properties of ZnO/Al2O3 nanorod heterostructure
The separation and transfer of the photoinduced charge carriers are essential for the high-efficient photocatalytic materials. Heterostructures which compose of several semiconductors can take advantage of energy level difference to improve photocatalytic properties. However, the fabrication of the...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Materials Research Express |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/abf391 |
| _version_ | 1797746595668688896 |
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| author | Zhipeng Li Ligong Zhou Liying Lu Xiaoguang Xu Yong Jiang |
| author_facet | Zhipeng Li Ligong Zhou Liying Lu Xiaoguang Xu Yong Jiang |
| author_sort | Zhipeng Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The separation and transfer of the photoinduced charge carriers are essential for the high-efficient photocatalytic materials. Heterostructures which compose of several semiconductors can take advantage of energy level difference to improve photocatalytic properties. However, the fabrication of the related heterostructures normally adopts the physical vapor deposition method, such as atomic layer deposition, hindering the mass production of photocatalytic materials. In this work, ZnO nanorod arrays and ZnO/Al _2 O _3 heterostructure were prepared on Si (100) substrates by a cost-efficient method which combines the hydrothermal and photochemical techniques. Microstructure and surface composition analysis on the heterostructure confirm the synthesis of the ZnO/Al _2 O _3 core–shell heterostructure. According to the ultraviolet (UV)–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, the band gap of the ZnO/Al _2 O _3 heterostructure can be estimated to be 3.25 eV, which is larger than that of pure ZnO nanorod arrays. Moreover, the heterostructure exhibits an obviously enhanced photocatalytic property for photodegradation of methyl orange under UV-irradiation. The energy band diagram of heterostructure shows that the improvement of photocatalytic property can be ascribed to the increase in the electron-hole pair separation rate. This work provides a simple method to fabricate nanoscale semiconductor heterostructures for photocatalytic applications. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:40:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3fb426602a0d4b87b57c5e36ad92d0f9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2053-1591 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:40:02Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Materials Research Express |
| spelling | doaj.art-3fb426602a0d4b87b57c5e36ad92d0f92023-08-09T16:02:01ZengIOP PublishingMaterials Research Express2053-15912021-01-018404550510.1088/2053-1591/abf391Enhanced photocatalytic properties of ZnO/Al2O3 nanorod heterostructureZhipeng Li0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7223-9334Ligong Zhou1Liying Lu2Xiaoguang Xu3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0972-4641Yong Jiang4Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering, School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing , Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of ChinaBeijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering, School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing , Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Chemistry and Biology Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing , Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of ChinaBeijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering, School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing , Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of ChinaBeijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering, School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing , Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of ChinaThe separation and transfer of the photoinduced charge carriers are essential for the high-efficient photocatalytic materials. Heterostructures which compose of several semiconductors can take advantage of energy level difference to improve photocatalytic properties. However, the fabrication of the related heterostructures normally adopts the physical vapor deposition method, such as atomic layer deposition, hindering the mass production of photocatalytic materials. In this work, ZnO nanorod arrays and ZnO/Al _2 O _3 heterostructure were prepared on Si (100) substrates by a cost-efficient method which combines the hydrothermal and photochemical techniques. Microstructure and surface composition analysis on the heterostructure confirm the synthesis of the ZnO/Al _2 O _3 core–shell heterostructure. According to the ultraviolet (UV)–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, the band gap of the ZnO/Al _2 O _3 heterostructure can be estimated to be 3.25 eV, which is larger than that of pure ZnO nanorod arrays. Moreover, the heterostructure exhibits an obviously enhanced photocatalytic property for photodegradation of methyl orange under UV-irradiation. The energy band diagram of heterostructure shows that the improvement of photocatalytic property can be ascribed to the increase in the electron-hole pair separation rate. This work provides a simple method to fabricate nanoscale semiconductor heterostructures for photocatalytic applications.https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/abf391ZnOAl2O3heterostructurephotocatalytic |
| spellingShingle | Zhipeng Li Ligong Zhou Liying Lu Xiaoguang Xu Yong Jiang Enhanced photocatalytic properties of ZnO/Al2O3 nanorod heterostructure Materials Research Express ZnO Al2O3 heterostructure photocatalytic |
| title | Enhanced photocatalytic properties of ZnO/Al2O3 nanorod heterostructure |
| title_full | Enhanced photocatalytic properties of ZnO/Al2O3 nanorod heterostructure |
| title_fullStr | Enhanced photocatalytic properties of ZnO/Al2O3 nanorod heterostructure |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enhanced photocatalytic properties of ZnO/Al2O3 nanorod heterostructure |
| title_short | Enhanced photocatalytic properties of ZnO/Al2O3 nanorod heterostructure |
| title_sort | enhanced photocatalytic properties of zno al2o3 nanorod heterostructure |
| topic | ZnO Al2O3 heterostructure photocatalytic |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/abf391 |
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