Fe2O3-promoted interface charge separation and visible-light activity of Fe@ZCS

Publication date: Available online 18 February 2020Source: Materials Chemistry and PhysicsAuthor(s): Zain Ul Abideen, Fei TengAbstractIn this work, Fe2O3@Zn0.3Cd0.7S heterojunction (Fe@ZCS) is obtained by hydrothermal method. Compared with ZCS (552 nm), a red shift of absorption edge obviously occurs for Fe@ZCS (622 nm); the photocurrent of Fe@ZCS increases by 2.6 times, and PL peak of Fe@ZCS greatly decreases, indicating an obviously decreased charge recombination efficiency; more electrons move to surface from bulk. After 80 min under irradiation (λ ≥ 420 nm), 87%, 45% and 16% of methylene blue (MB) are degraded by Fe@ZCS, ZCS and Fe2O3, respectively. The apparent reaction rate of Fe@ZCS is 2.7 times higher than that of ZCS, which is mainly due to increased light absorption and charge separation efficiency by Fe@ZCS heterojunction. It is important that the environmentally benign, abundant Fe2O3 can be utilized in photocatalysis through the design of heterojuction structure, which would benefit engineering application of photocatalysis.Graphical abstractBecause of greatly enhanced interface charge separation and visible light absorption, Fe2O3@Zn0.3Cd0.7S (Fe@ZCS) shows a higher visible-light activity than ZCS.
Source: Materials Chemistry and Physics - Category: Materials Science Source Type: research