title: Tube-like ternary α-Fe2O3@SnO2@Cu2O sandwich heterostructures: synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic properties.
abstract: Heterogeneous photocatalysis is of great interest for environmental remediation applications. However, fast recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pair and a low utilization rate of sunlight hinder the commercialization of currently available semiconductor photocatalysts. In this regard, we developed a unique ternary single core-double shell heterostructure that consists of α-Fe2O3@SnO2@Cu2O. This heterostructure exhibits a tube-like morphology possessing broad spectral response for the sunlight due to the combination of narrow bandgap and wide bandgap semiconductors forming a p-n heterojunction. To fabricate such a short nanotube (SNT), we used an anion-assisted hydrothermal route for deposition of α-Fe2O3, a seed-mediated deposition strategy for SnO2, and finally an aging process to deposit a Cu2O layer to complete the tube-like ternary α-Fe2O3@SnO2@Cu2O single core-double shell heterostructures. The morphology, composition, and photocatalytic properties of those ternary core-shell-shell heterostructures were characterized by various analytical techniques. These ternary heterostructures exhibited enhanced photocatalytic properties on the photodegradation of the organic dye of Rhodamine B (RhB) under simulated sunlight irradiation. The origin of enhanced photocatalytic activity is due to the synergistic effect of broad spectral response by combining narrow bandgap and wide bandgap semiconductors and, hence, an efficient charge separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs facilitated through the p-n heterojunction. Furthermore, our unique structure provides an insight on the fabrication and controlled preparation of multilayer heterostructural photocatalysts that have intriguing properties.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures of Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University , Wuhan, Hubei 430072, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Qingyong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Lingling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Shuanglei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xiangheng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Changzhong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Vellaisamy A L
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Roy