Controllable synthesis, magnetic properties, and enhanced photocatalytic activity of spindlelike mesoporous α-Fe(2)O(3)/ZnO core-shell heterostructures.
Mesoporous spindlelike iron oxide/ZnO core-shell heterostructures are successfully fabricated by a low-cost, surfactant-free, and environmentally friendly seed-mediate strategy with the help of postannealing treatment. The material composition and stoichiometry, as well as these magnetic and optical properties, have been examined and verified by means of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, the thickness of ZnO layer can be simply tailored by the concentration of zinc precursor. Considering that both α-Fe2O3 and ZnO are good photocatalytic materials, we have investigated the photodegradation performances of the core-shell heterostructures using organic dyes Rhodamin B (RhB). It is interesting to find that the as-obtained iron oxides/ZnO core-shell heterostructures exhibited enhanced visible light or UV photocatalytic abilities, remarkably superior to the as-used α-Fe2O3 seeds and commercial TiO2 products (P25), mainly owing to the synergistic effect between the narrow and wide bandgap semiconductors and effective electron-hole separation at the interfaces of iron oxides/ZnO.
School of Printing and Packaging and School of Chemistry and Molecular Science, ‡Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures of Ministry of Education, §Center for Electronic Microscopy and School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, P. R. China.
Wei
W
Wu
Shaofeng
S
Zhang
Xiangheng
X
Xiao
Juan
J
Zhou
Feng
F
Ren
Lingling
L
Sun
Changzhong
C
Jiang
D002384:Catalysis; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods; D005290:Ferric Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000302:isolation & purification; D055772:Green Chemistry Technology; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D057145:Nanoshells / Q000737:chemistry*; D010782:Photolysis; D012235:Rhodamines / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012666:Semiconductors; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*
D005290:Ferric Compounds; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; D012235:Rhodamines; C000499:ferric oxide; D015034:Zinc Oxide