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Controlled calcination of ZnSe and ZnTe nanospheres to prepare visible-light catalysts with enhanced photostability and photoactivity

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Abstract

To obtain cheap, low-toxic, efficient and robust visible-light photocatalyst, a controlled calcination strategy is proposed for converting unstable ZnX (X=Se, Te) nanospheres (NSs) to ZnX–ZnO hybrid nanospheres (HNSs) with an appropriate composition and structure. Under such a conception, ZnSe–ZnO HNSs with various compositions were prepared by calcining ZnSe NSs under different conditions. Their morphology, composition, crystal structure, and optical absorption property were found to be highly dependent on their calcination condition. When serving as the catalyst for photodegrading organic dyes, they exhibited an attractive composition/structure-dependent photocatalytic activity and enhanced photostability. Particularly, the HNSs prepared by calcining at 500 °C for 4.0 h demonstrated the highest photocatalytic activity and excellent photostability, only taking 4.5 and 5.5 h to degrade 97.3 % methylene blue (MB) and 93 % ethyl violet (EV), respectively, under visible irradiation. The reason why such HNSs possessed the best photocatalytic performance was then intensively explored from different points of view. Moreover, we also extended this calcination protocol to prepare ZnTe–ZnO HNSs, whose photocatalytic performance was proven to be much better than that of pure ZnTe NSs as expected. We believe the strategy for fabricating such hybrid nanospheres and the exploration on their excellent photocatalytic performance will definitely benefit the preparation of high-efficient visible-light catalyst as well as the better understanding of its composition/structure-dependent photocatalytic activity.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China [NSFC, 21273020, 21003012, 91023039, and 21233003 (the State Key Program)].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Xiaoli Liu, Dong Li, Wanting Yang, Shilin Tang, Xiaohong Li, Louzhen Fan & Yunchao Li

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  1. Xiaoli Liu
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  2. Dong Li
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  3. Wanting Yang
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  4. Shilin Tang
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  5. Xiaohong Li
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  6. Louzhen Fan
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  7. Yunchao Li
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Correspondence to Yunchao Li.

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10853_2016_406_MOESM1_ESM.docx

Supplementary material 1 Including HRTEM, XRD, EDS, and Raman and XPS spectra of ZnSe or ZnTe nanospheres, N2 adsorption isotherms, XRD, and photodegradation assays of ZnSe NSs and ZnSe–ZnO HNSs; TOC and ICP analysis of dye solutions; SEM images and photodegradation assays of ZnTe and ZnTe–ZnO NSs (DOCX 8603 kb)

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Liu, X., Li, D., Yang, W. et al. Controlled calcination of ZnSe and ZnTe nanospheres to prepare visible-light catalysts with enhanced photostability and photoactivity. J Mater Sci 51, 11021–11037 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-016-0406-6

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