Double-sided plasmonic Au nanoparticles on Cu-doped ZnO/ZnO heterostructures with enhanced photocatalytic activity

Photocatalytic decontamination of phenol and petrochemical wastewater through ZnO/TiO2 decorated on reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite: influential operating factors, mechanism, and electrical energy consumption

“…Combination of wide bandgap semiconductors with narrow bandgap semiconductors and formation of type I heterojunctions can enhance the photocatalytic activity of titania. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] The composite of TiO 2 and ZnO has shown to have a higher photocatalytic activity than pristine TiO 2 and/or ZnO because of type II hetero-junction formation which inhibits the e/h recombination rate. Furthermore, the heterogeneous structure formation by two semiconductors extends the photo response of composites to visible light area.…”

Constructing Er-Doped ZnO/CuS/Au Core-Shell Nanowires with Enhanced Photocatalytic and SERS Properties

“…Therefore, it can be observed that the composition and morphology of the Erdoped ZnO/CuS core-shell nanowires are consistent. Recently, Au nanoparticles deposited on the heterostructures can improve their photocatalytic activity by generating the Schottky barrier to suppress the recombination of electron-hole pairs and increase visible light absorption [34,35]. The FETEM image (Figure 4a) of an individual Er-doped ZnO/CuS/Au core-shell nanowire was fabricated at the Au deposition time of 30 s. Figure 4b shows the HRTEM image of an individual Er-doped ZnO/CuS/Au core-shell nanowire, in which the interlayer spacings of Er-doped ZnO/CuS/Au core-shell nanowire are obtained at 0.271 nm and 0.236 nm, which can be corresponded to the d-spacing of the (006) lattice plane of the hexagonal CuS crystal (JCPDS Card No.…”

“…In addition, the EDS mapping images (Figure 4c) of an Er-doped ZnO/CuS/Au core-shell nanowire can also use to confirm the composition of the core-shell structure by Zn, O, Er, Cu, S, and Au signals. Recently, Au nanoparticles deposited on the heterostructures can improve their photocatalytic activity by generating the Schottky barrier to suppress the recombination of electron-hole pairs and increase visible light absorption [34,35]. The FETEM image (Figure 4a) of an individual Er-doped ZnO/CuS/Au core-shell nanowire was fabricated at the Au deposition time of 30 s. Figure 4b The photocatalytic efficiency of as-synthesized photocatalysts with the same area (2.5 cm × 1.5 cm) was evaluated by degrading acid orange 7 (AO7) under blue LED light.…”

ZnO-based nanomaterials approach for photocatalytic and sensing applications: recent progress and trends

“…44 For this reason, strategies like doping, sensitization, and coupling have been explored extensively to improve the photocatalytic performance of the material under visible irradiation. 45–50 Yet, these improvement strategies often involve the emergence of new challenges to overcome since unwanted side effects such as the creation of trap states, imperfections in the interfaces between different materials, and electronic retro injection to the sensitizer dye tend to emerge, reducing carrier mobility or the electron collecting efficiency, negatively affecting the photocatalytic performance of the system.…”