Enhancement of photocatalytic activity for fold-like ZnO via hybridisation with graphene

Xia Kong; Yawei Hu; Wei Pan

Enhancement of photocatalytic activity for fold-like ZnO via hybridisation with graphene

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Author(s): Xia Kong¹ ; Yawei Hu¹ ; Wei Pan²
- Affiliations: 1: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering , Shaanxi University of Science and Technology , Xi'an, Shaanxi 710021 , People's Republic of China ;
  2: State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing , Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084 , People's Republic of China
Source: Volume 13, Issue 2, February 2018, p. 232 – 236
DOI: 10.1049/mnl.2017.0395 , Online ISSN 1750-0443

Received 05/06/2017, Accepted 12/10/2017, Revised 20/09/2017, Published 01/02/2018

Fold-like ZnO nanoparticles were prepared by hydrothermal method, and followed by hybridisation with graphene to form graphene/ZnO composite. Photocatalytic properties of prepared samples were investigated by degrading methylene blue solution. It was found that the photocatalytic activity of ZnO has been much enhanced by hybridisation with graphene under either ultraviolet or visible irradiation. After four recycles of photocatalytic experiments, graphene/ZnO photocatalyst has not exhibited any great loss in photocatalytic activity. According to the photo-electrochemical experimental results, the possible mechanism of the enhanced photocatalytic activity could be attributed to the increased adsorption ability, the effective separation of electron–hole pairs and the excellent electron transport characteristics of graphene. Thus, this new and highly effective graphene/ZnO composite could be a perfect candidate in the field of photocatalysis, which provides a new idea for the construction of other photocatalysts based on graphene and semiconductor.

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Enhancement of photocatalytic activity for fold-like ZnO via hybridisation with graphene

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