Facile synthesis of ZnO/CuInS2 nanorod arrays for photocatalytic pollutants degradation.
Vertically-aligned ZnO nanorod arrays on a fluorine-doped tin oxide glass substrate were homogeneously coated with visible light active CuInS2 quantum dots by using a controllable electrophoretic deposition strategy. Compared with the pure ZnO nanorod arrays, the formation of high-quality ZnO/CuInS2 heterojunction with well-matched band energy alignment expanded the light absorption from ultraviolet to visible region and facilitated efficient charge separation and transportation, thus yielding remarkable enhanced photoelectrochemical performance and photocatalytic activities for methyl orange and 4-chlorophenol degradation. The ZnO/CuInS2 film with the deposition duration of 80min showed the highest degradation rate and photocurrent density (0.95mA/cm(2)), which was almost 6.33 times higher than that of the pure ZnO nanorod arrays film. The CuInS2 QDs sensitized ZnO nanorod arrays film was proved to be a superior structure for photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic applications due to the optimized CuInS2 loading and well-maintained one-dimensional nanostructure.
Electronic Materials Research Laboratory, International Center for Dielectric Research, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education, School of Electronic & Information Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, PR China.
Yawei
Y
Yang
Electronic Materials Research Laboratory, International Center for Dielectric Research, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education, School of Electronic & Information Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, PR China. Electronic address: wxque@mail.xjtu.edu.cn.
Wenxiu
W
Que
Frontier Institute of Science and Technology Jointly with College of Science, State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, PR China.
Xinyu
X
Zhang
Electronic Materials Research Laboratory, International Center for Dielectric Research, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education, School of Electronic & Information Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, PR China.
Yonglei
Y
Xing
Electronic Materials Research Laboratory, International Center for Dielectric Research, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education, School of Electronic & Information Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, PR China.
Xingtian
X
Yin
Frontier Institute of Science and Technology Jointly with College of Science, State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, PR China. Electronic address: ypdu2013@mail.xjtu.edu.cn.
Yaping
Y
Du
CuInS(2) quantum dots; Electrophoretic deposition; Heterojunction; Photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic activities; ZnO nanorod arrays