Electrodeposition of hierarchical ZnO/Cu{sub 2}O nanorod films for highly efficient visible-light-driven photocatalytic applications

Journal Article · Fri Feb 14 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4863468· OSTI ID:22278090

Ren, S. T.; Fan, G. H.; Liang, M. L.; Wang, Q. ^[1]

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1. Department of Optoelectronic Science, Harbin Institute of Technology at Weihai, Weihai 264209 (China)

The development of high-performance visible-light-responsive photocatalytic materials has attracted widespread interest due to their potential applications in the environmental and energy industries. In this work, hierarchical ZnO nanorods films were successfully prepared on the stainless steel mesh substrates via a simple two-step seed-assisted electrodeposition route. Cu{sub 2}O nanoparticles were then electrodeposited on the surface of ZnO nanorods to form the core-shell heterostructure. The synthesized ZnO/Cu{sub 2}O nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and UV-visible spectrophotometer. Due to the branched hierarchical morphologies and core-shell structure, ZnO/Cu{sub 2}O nanomaterials show a prominent visible-light-driven photocatalytic performance under the low-intensity light irradiation (40 mW/cm{sup 2}). The influence of some experimental parameters, such as Cu{sub 2}O loading amount, ZnO morphologies, the substrate type, and the PH of the Cu{sub 2}O precursor solution on ZnO/Cu{sub 2}O photocatalytic performance was evaluated.

• OSTI ID: 22278090
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 115, Issue 6; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
COPPER OXIDES
ELECTRODEPOSITION
FIELD EMISSION
INTERFACES
IRRADIATION
LOADING
MORPHOLOGY
NANOSTRUCTURES
PHOTOCATALYSIS
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
SOLUTIONS
SPECTROPHOTOMETRY
STAINLESS STEELS
SUBSTRATES
THIN FILMS
VISIBLE RADIATION
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
ZINC OXIDES