Issue 11, 2017

ZnO/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposite as a broad-spectrum photo-Fenton-like photocatalyst with near-infrared activity

Abstract

The majority of current photocatalysts are generally excited under ultraviolet (UV) and visible light, while near-infrared (NIR) light accounting for nearly half of solar light has not been fully used. Herein, a ZnO/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposite with the ability to degrade an organic dye in the presence of H2O2 under NIR irradiation was prepared by a co-precipitation method followed by calcination at 800 °C. As revealed by optical absorption analysis, the ZnO/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposite exhibits significant optical absorption in the UV, visible and NIR light regions. Benefitting from this unique photo-absorption property and the generation of reactive ˙OH mainly by the reaction of photogenerated electrons with H2O2, the ZnO/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposite performs well in photodegrading methyl orange under either UV, visible or NIR irradiation. Moreover, the UV, visible and NIR photocatalytic activities of the ZnO/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposite did not change significantly after three runs of recycling. This finding opens a new approach for fully utilizing solar light energy, especially the energy of NIR light.

Graphical abstract: ZnO/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposite as a broad-spectrum photo-Fenton-like photocatalyst with near-infrared activity

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
17 Feb 2017
Accepted
20 Apr 2017
First published
20 Apr 2017

Catal. Sci. Technol., 2017,7, 2236-2244

ZnO/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposite as a broad-spectrum photo-Fenton-like photocatalyst with near-infrared activity

H. Chen, W. Liu and Z. Qin, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2017, 7, 2236 DOI: 10.1039/C7CY00308K

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