Abstract
We report a facile route for the fabrication of a unique configuration of carbon-doped strings of ZnO nanoparticles obtained by subjecting solvent vapor annealing followed by direct carbonization to reconstructed block copolymer inverse micelle arrays. The dual role of a carbon (C) moiety has been exploited in significantly enhancing the catalytic performance of C-ZnO nanohybrids under the illumination of visible light. The first role is to create a new energy level above the valence band of ZnO and the other is to act as a channel by which recombination of the excitons is effectively suppressed. The enhanced visible light active photocatalytic efficiency and recyclability of C-ZnO was demonstrated in terms of degradation of a target dye (p-nitrophenol) molecule. Photoelectrochemical water splitting was also performed using C-ZnO on ITO as the working electrode. A significant enhancement in the photocurrent density was obtained for C-ZnO compared with bare ZnO. A plausible mechanism to support the enhanced visible light activity of C-ZnO was proposed.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 898-905 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of Materials Chemistry A |
Volume | 1 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 21 Jan 2013 |