A novel Zn2GeO4 superstructure for effective photocatalytic hydrogen generation

Abstract

Crystal orientation-ordered hexagonal Zn₂GeO₄ nanorod-bundles have been obtained via a synergistic self-assembly route. Each nanorod unit of the bundles maintains its individual hexagonal rod-shaped structure and is dominated by (110) and (0) facets, and all of them are aligned parallel to the growth direction in a high density. An ordered self-assembly of anisotropic nanorods was suggested to elucidate the formation of the unique bundle structures. The novel structure of Zn₂GeO₄ bundles assembled from hexagonal nanorods leads to a surprisingly high UV-light-driven activity for the photocatalytic decomposition of water–methanol solution to hydrogen. The correlation of structure and photocatalytic activity of the ordered nanorod-bundles was discussed, indicating a new strategy of bundling Zn₂GeO₄ nanorods with reactive facets to effectively enhance photocatalytic activities of 1-D nanostructures.