Fabrication and photocatalytic properties of Cu2S/T-ZnOw heterostructures via simple polyol process
(Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials of Ministry of Education,
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China)
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China)
Abstract: The Cu2S/tetrapod-like ZnO whisker (T-ZnOw) heterostructures were successfully synthesized via a simple polyol process employing the poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) as a surfactant. The as-prepared heterostructures were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). The photocatalytic properties of Cu2S/T-ZnOw nanocomposites synthesized with different PVP concentrations were evaluated by photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) under UV irradiation. The results show that the Cu2S/T-ZnOw nanocomposites exhibit remarkable improved photocatalytic property compared with the pure T-ZnOw. The sample prepared with 3.0 g/L PVP shows an excellent photocatalytic property and the highest photodegradation rate of MO is 97% after UV irradiation for 120 min. Besides, the photocatalytic activity of the photocatalyst has no evident decrease even after four cycles, which demonstrates that the Cu2S/T-ZnOw photocatalyst exhibits an excellent photostability. Moreover, the photocatalytic mechanism of the Cu2S/T-ZnOw nanocomposites was also discussed.
Key words: Cu2S/T-ZnOw heterostructure; photocatalytic property; Cu2S nanoparticle