High efficient photocatalytic degradation of p-nitrophenol on a unique Cu2O/TiO2 p-n heterojunction network catalyst.
p-Nitrophenol (PNP) is a difficultly decomposed organic pollutant under solar light in the absence of strong oxidants. This study shows that under artificial solar light PNP can be effectively degraded by a Cu(2)O/TiO(2) p-n junction network which is fabricated by anodizing Cu(0) particles-loaded TiO(2) nanotubes (NTs). The network is composed of p-type Cu(2)O nanowires on the top surface and Cu(2)O nanoparticles on the inner walls of the n-type TiO(2) NT arrays. The Cu(2)O/TiO(2) network shows much higher degradation rate (1.97 μg/min cm(2)) than the unmodified TiO(2) NTs (0.85 μg/min cm(2)). The enhanced photocatalytic acitivity can be attributed to the extended absorption in the visible resulting from the Cu(2)O nanowire networks and the effective separation of photogenerated carriers driven by the photoinduced potential difference generated at the Cu(2)O/TiO(2) p-n junction interface.
Yang
Lixia
L
College of Environmental Science and Engineering, and Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, and State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, People's Republic of China.
Luo
Shenglian
S
Li
Yue
Y
Xiao
Yan
Y
Kang
Qing
Q
Cai
Qingyun
Q
D002384:Catalysis; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D053770:Nanowires; D009596:Nitrophenols / Q000737:chemistry*; D010777:Photochemistry; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D009596:Nitrophenols; C009495:titanium dioxide; D003300:Copper; D014025:Titanium; C030973:cupric oxide; C024836:4-nitrophenol