Co3O4 Nanopetals Grown on the Porous CuO Network for the Photocatalytic Degradation

Abstract

Designing a novel photocatalytic composite for the efficient degradation of organic dyes remains a serious challenge. Herein, the multi-layered Co3O4@NP−CuO photocatalyst with unique features, i.e., the self-supporting, hierarchical porous network as well as the construction of heterojunction between Co3O4 and CuO, are synthesized by dealloying-electrodeposition and subsequent thermal treatment techniques. It is found that the interwoven ultrathin Co3O4 nanopetals evenly grow on the nanoporous CuO network (Co3O4@NP−CuO). The three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical porous structure for the catalyst provides more surface area to act as active sites and facilitates the absorption of visible light in the photodegradation reaction. Compared with the commercial CuO and Co3O4 powders, the newly designed Co3O4@NP−CuO composite exhibits superior photodegradation performance for RhB. The enhanced performance is mainly due to the construction of heterojunction of Co3O4/CuO, greatly promoting the efficient carrier separation for photocatalysis. Furthermore, the possible photocatalytic mechanism is analyzed in detail. This work provides a promising strategy for the fabrication of a new controllable heterojunction to improve photocatalytic activity.

Straightforward electrochemical synthesis of a Co3O4 nanopetal/ZnO nanoplate p–n junction for photoelectrochemical water splitting

“…In detail, the Co 3 O 4 layer on top has a nanopetal structure that is intertwined and developed uniformly on the ZnO substrate, similar to previous reports on electrochemically deposited Co 3 O 4 . 37 Thus, based on the SEM images of the samples, it can be concluded that the Co 3 O 4 /ZnO bilayer material with a nanopetal/nanoplate structure on the FTO substrate was successfully synthesized by the electrochemical deposition method with high coverage and uniformity.…”

Enhanced Performance of Porphyrin-Modified CuO-Co3O4 Heterojunction as a Photoelectrocatalyst for Methanol Oxidation

“…20 Based on the above discussion, we expect that CuO/Co 3 O 4 heterojunction nanomaterials can have good electrocatalytic methanol oxidation performance. Considering the wide application of heterojunction structure in the field of photocatalysis, Sun et al 21 have designed a Co 3 O 4 @NP-CuO composite, which exhibits excellent photodegradation performance against RhB. Zhang et al 22 have synthesized a CuO/Co 3 O 4 hollow polyhedral nanocage composite, which improves the photocatalytic performance of water oxidation and has excellent stability.…”