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Flower-like ZnO/BiOI p–n heterojunction composites for enhanced photodegradation of formaldehyde and dyes

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Abstract

The fabrication of p–n heterojunctions was considered as a promising strategy to improve the photocatalytic efficiency of the catalyst, because such junction can effectively promote separation of carriers and improve the catalytic performance. Herein, nanoflower like p–n heterojunction photocatalyst ZnO/BiOI (abbreviated as ZB-x) was prepared by simple solution coprecipitation. Under visible light, ZnO/BiOI p–n heterojunction photocatalyst showed enhanced degradation rate toward Rhodamine B (RhB) and formaldehyde (HCHO) photodegradation. The degradation rates of RhB and HCHO by optimized complex ZB-0.5 in 60 min were 95% and 60%, respectively. The p-type BiOI with narrow band gap can effectively enhance the visible light absorption, and its p–n heterojunction with ZnO can significantly improve the separation efficiency and transfer rate of photogenerated electron hole pairs. Meanwhile, multi-dimensional nanoflower structure is not only conducive to light reflection and improve light utilization, but also can expose more catalytic active sites. This p–n heterojunction nanocomposite has a good effect on improving environmental pollution problems.

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Experimental data for this study can be obtained from the authors on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work is financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Jilin Province (Grant No. 20210101138JC); Science and technology research project of Jilin Provincial Department of Education (Grant No. JJKH20220264KJ); Jilin Jianzhu University Scientific Research startup fund; Innovation and entrepreneurship training program for college students of Jilin Jianzhu University (Grant No. s202110191056).

Funding

Funding was provided by Natural Science Foundation of Jilin Province (Grant No. 20210101138JC), Science and technology research project of Jilin Provincial Department of Education (Grant No. JJKH20220264KJ), Innovation and entrepreneurship training program for college students of Jilin Jianzhu University (Grant No. s202110191056), Jilin Scientific and Technological Development Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Material Science and Engineering, Jilin Jianzhu University, Changchun, 130118, China

    Gang Yan, Kun Wang, Zhuoting Jiang, Kuibing Jiang, Jiangwei Peng & Jian Xu

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  1. Gang Yan
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  2. Kun Wang
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  3. Zhuoting Jiang
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, material detection and characterization, data analysis and data processing were carried out by GY and KW. The first draft of the manuscript was written by KW and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Gang Yan.

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Yan, G., Wang, K., Jiang, Z. et al. Flower-like ZnO/BiOI p–n heterojunction composites for enhanced photodegradation of formaldehyde and dyes. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 23064–23074 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-09073-0

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