In situ generation of well-dispersed ZnO quantum dots on electrospun silica nanotubes with high photocatalytic activity.
The ZnO quantum dots-SiO(2) nanotubes (ZQDs-SNTs) nanocomposite was successfully fabricated by direct heat treatment of the electrospun zinc acetate/tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS)/polymer nanotubes (NTs). The results indicated that the ZnO quantum dots (ZQDs) with diameter about 3-5 nm were highly dispersed on the SiO(2) nanotubes (SNTs). And, there might be Zn-O-Si bonds between ZQDs and SiO(2) matrix, which formed interface states in the ZQDs-SNTs nanocomposite. The photocatalytic studies revealed that the ZQDs-SNTs nanocomposite exhibited high photocatalytic activity to degrade Rhodamine B (RB) under ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation, which might be ascribed to two reasons. The first one was the high dispersity of ZQDs; another one was the high separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs due to the trap effect for photogenerated electrons of the interface states between ZQDs and SiO(2). During the photocatalytic reaction, the ZQDs-SNTs nanocomposite also exhibited high chemical stability in a wide range of pH values, which might be ascribed to the protective action of SiO(2) and the presence of Zn-O-Si bonds between ZQDs and SiO(2). Furthermore, the ZQDs-SNTs nanocomposites could be easily recycled because of their one-dimensional nanostructure property.
Center for Advanced Optoelectronic Functional Materials Research, and Key Laboratory of UV Light-Emitting Materials and Technology of Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun 130024, People's Republic of China.
Xin
X
Zhang
Changlu
C
Shao
Zhenyi
Z
Zhang
Jinhuan
J
Li
Peng
P
Zhang
Mingyi
M
Zhang
Jingbo
J
Mu
Zengcai
Z
Guo
Pingping
P
Liang
Yichun
Y
Liu
D002384:Catalysis; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry*; D010782:Photolysis; D045663:Quantum Dots; D012235:Rhodamines / Q000737:chemistry; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*
D012235:Rhodamines; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; C029773:rhodamine B; D015034:Zinc Oxide