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Preparing ZnWO4–CdS composite with excellent visible light photocatalytic activity under mild conditions

  • Original Paper: Nano-structured materials (particles, fibers, colloids, composites, etc.)
  • Published:
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Abstract

ZnWO4–CdS composite was designed and synthesized via a surface functionalized route under mild conditions. In this composite, CdS nanoparticle was successfully anchored on ZnWO4 nanorod with addition of citric acid. The formed composite was characterized by X-ray diffraction patterns, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, photoluminescence and transient photocurrent response. Besides, a possible nucleation-growth mechanism was proposed. To explore the photocatalytic performance of as-prepared ZnWO4–CdS composite, methylene blue and ciprofloxacin were chosen as the representative to systematically assess the degradation ability of as-prepared composite under visible light irradiation. The obtained results indicate that the ZnWO4–CdS3 composite photocatalyst is more efficient to methylene blue and ciprofloxacin than others under same conditions. The greatly enhanced photocatalytic performance of ZnWO4–CdS composite can be attributed to larger specific surface area, wider photo adsorption range and higher photo-induced carriers separation efficiency. A reasonable mechanism of the enhanced photocatalytic activity was confirmed and demonstrated by a series of characterization methods.

Graphical Abstract

The formation of n-n heterojunction between ZnWO4 and CdS can effectively promote the separation and transfer efficiency of photo-generated carriers and enhance the photocatalytic performance of composite.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21663027, 51262028, 21261021), the Science and Technology Support Project of Gansu Province (1504GKCA027), the Program for the Young Innovative Talents of Longyuan, the Program for Innovative Research Team (NWNU-LKQN-15-2), the Opening Project of Key Laboratory of Green Catalysis of Sichuan Institutes of High Education (LZJ1502), the Research Fund for Higher Education of Gansu Province (2016A-002) and the Undergraduate Academic Innovative Research Team of Northwest Normal University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, China

    Qizhao Wang, Yanbiao Shi, Tengjiao Niu, Jijuan He, Houde She & Bitao Su

  2. Key Laboratory of Eco-Environment-Related Polymer Materials, Ministry of Education of China, Lanzhou, 730070, China

    Qizhao Wang

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  1. Qizhao Wang
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  2. Yanbiao Shi
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Correspondence to Qizhao Wang.

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Wang, Q., Shi, Y., Niu, T. et al. Preparing ZnWO4–CdS composite with excellent visible light photocatalytic activity under mild conditions. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 83, 555–566 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-017-4434-8

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