title: Oxygen Vacancies in Shape Controlled Cu2O/Reduced Graphene Oxide/In2O3Hybrid for Promoted Photocatalytic Water Oxidation and Degradation of Environmental Pollutants.
abstract: A novel shape controlled Cu2O/reduced graphene oxide/In2O3(Cu2O/RGO/In2O3) hybrid with abundant oxygen vacancies was prepared by a facile, surfactant-free method. The hybrid photocatalyst exhibits an increased photocatalytic activity in water oxidation and degradation of environmental pollutants (methylene blue and Cr6+solutions) compared with pure In2O3and Cu2O materials. The presence of oxygen vacancies in Cu2O/RGO/In2O3and the formation of heterojunction between In2O3and Cu2O induce extra diffusive electronic states above the valence band (VB) edge and reduce the band gap of the hybrid consequently. Besides, the increased activity of Cu2O/RGO/In2O3hybrid is also attributed to the alignment of band edge, a process that is assisted by different Fermi levels between In2O3and Cu2O, as well as the charge transfer and distribution onto the graphene sheets, which causes the downshift of VB of In2O3and the significant increase in its oxidation potential. Additionally, a built-in electric field is generated on the interface of n-type In2O3and p-type Cu2O, suppressing the recombination of photoinduced electron-hole pairs and allowing the photogenerated electrons and holes to participate in the reduction and oxidation reactions for oxidizing water molecules and pollutants more efficiently.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, North China Electric Power University , Baoding 071003, China.|Department of Chemical Engineering, Curtin University , GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Curtin University , GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Shandong University of Technology , Zibo 255049, China.
authors.forename: Degang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering, Edith Cowan University , 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, Western Australia 6027, Australia.
authors.forename: Hongqi
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0907-5626
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Curtin University , GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Curtin University , GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia.
authors.forename: Xiaoguang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Curtin University , GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia.
authors.forename: Wenjie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Curtin University , GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia.
authors.forename: Moses O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Tadé
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Curtin University , GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia.
authors.forename: Shaomin
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5019-5182
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Curtin University , GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia.
authors.forename: Shaobin
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1751-9162
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: indium oxide; oxygen vacancies; photocatalysis; p−n heterojunction; shape controlled synthesis