Polydopamine assisted transformation of ZnO from nanospheres to nanosheets grown in nanoporous BiVO4 films for improved photocatalytic performance

This work demonstrates the fabrication of nanoporous BiVO4/ZnO nanosheets heterostructures grown on stainless steel mesh. The ZnO nanospheres were used as precursors for ZnO nanosheets, and the number of ZnO nanosheets increased with an increase in the diameter of ZnO nanospheres. Photodegradation experiments confirmed that BiVO4/ZnO nanocomposites derived from ZnO nanospheres with a diameter of 300 nm (BVO/ZnO-300) exhibited higher photocatalytic performance than other BiVO4/ZnO hybrids. In addition, the construction of the architectures on stainless steel mesh is beneficial for practical application since the photocatalysts could be easily recycled and reused without any special recycling procedures.

Automated summary

This work demonstrates the fabrication of nanoporous BiVO4/ZnO nanosheets heterostructures on stainless steel mesh, showing improved photocatalytic performance. Using ZnO nanospheres as precursors can increase the number of ZnO nanosheets, with the composite derived from 300 nm diameter ZnO nanospheres exhibiting the highest efficiency. Building the architectures on stainless steel mesh allows for easy recycling and reuse of the photocatalysts.