Macroporous GaN/ZnO solid solution photocatalyst is synthesized through a novel sol-gel method under mild conditions. The performance of as-synthesized solid solution photocatalyst is evaluated for decomposition of gaseous 2-propanol (IPA). It is found that due to enhancement in both the adsorption to gaseous IPA and the absorbance to visible light, the porous GaN/ZnO solid solution exhibits a good photocatalytic performance for IPA decomposition. Moreover, the mechanism for photocatalytic degradation IPA over porous GaN/ZnO solid solution is also investigated in comparison with those for the two end materials ZnO and GaN. The trapping effects with different scavengers prove that both the photoexcited electrons and holes affect the IPA photodegradation process, simultaneously.

We report on the solubility and crystal facet tailoring of the wurtzite structured (GaN)1−x(ZnO)x solid solution nanowires via a chemical vapor deposition method. With increasing the growth temperature from 900 °C to 1000 °C, the nanowire morphology is changed from zigzag to straight, and the band gap is increased from 2.70 eV to 3.26 eV, due to decreased solubility of ZnO. Photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic performances of the zigzag nanowires are significantly improved because of the narrower band gap for absorbing more solar light and the special lateral surface atomic structure favorable for the separation of photoinduced electrons and holes.