Novel carbon-incorporated porous ZnFe2O4 nanospheres for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen generation under visible light irradiation

作者：Zhu, Hekai; Fang, Minghao^*; Huang, Zhaohui^*; Liu, Yan'gai; Chen, Kai; Tang, Chao; Wang, Meng; Zhang, Lina; Wu, Xiaowen

来源：RSC Advances, 2016, 6(61): 56069-56076.

DOI：10.1039/c6ra05098k

• GRAPHITE-LIKE CARBON
• NANOPARTICLES
• BIOBR
• PERFORMANCE
• COMPOSITES
• NANOSHEETS
• WATER
• MICROSPHERES
• NANOFIBERS
• GRAPHENE

Carbon-incorporated ZnFe2O4 nanocomposite photocatalysts with porous spherical structures have been synthesized by a modified solvothermal method combined with a post-calcination process using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a carbon source. Microscopy morphology studies show that the ZnFe2O4 nanospheres with a porous structure and diameter within the 100-200 nm range were constructed by plenty of nano-sized primary particles. Fourier transform infrared, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectra indicate the presence of graphite-like carbon on the ZnFe2O4 nanospheres, which can serve as effective transport channels for photon-excited electrons from the surface of the photocatalysts and suppress the recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs with its superior electrical conductivity. Without noble metal loading, the ZnFe2O4-carbon nanocomposites show a higher photocatalytic activity towards hydrogen production than individual ZnFe2O4 under visible light irradiation (lambda > 420 nm). It is concluded that the effort provided a new approach to fabricate carbon-incorporated ZnFe2O4 nanocomposites, also expanded the application of ZnFe2O4 nanospheres as visible-light excited photocatalysts for hydrogen production.

• 出版日期2016
• 单位中国地质大学（北京）; 北京有色金属研究总院