Abstract
One-dimensional nanostructures grown on substrates are favored for photocatalytic reactions because of their large specific surface areas and well-defined transport paths for charge carriers. In the present paper, zinc ferrite nanotube arrays are synthesized on indium-tin-oxide–glass substrates, and their photocatalytic capabilities are evaluated by degrading an aqueous solution of rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. The photocatalytic performance of pure zinc ferrite nanotube arrays is unsatisfactory. To improve their photocatalytic abilities, the surfaces of zinc ferrite nanotube arrays are decorated with Au nanoparticles, significantly enhancing their photocatalytic capabilities for RhB degradation. The drastic improvement in the photocatalytic degradation ability is attributed to the effective separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs in the Au-decorated zinc ferrite hybrid nanostructure, which facilitates the generation of oxidizing free radicals (i.e., O2 • − and OH·) for RhB degradation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 5872-5879 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Materials Science |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 1 2016 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51502271, 11574401), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2652015186), the National Key Basic Research Program of China (No. 2014CB744302), and the Specially Funded Program on National Key Scientific Instruments and Equipment Development (No. 2012YQ140005).