Journal
APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE
Volume 283, Issue -, Pages 914-923Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2013.07.043
Keywords
Photocatalyis; ZnO; Nanoparticles; Photoluminescence; Defects
Categories
Funding
- project RGC CRF [CityU6/CRF/08]
- Strategic Research Theme, University Development Fund
- University of Hong Kong
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Eight commercial ZnO samples were investigated, as-received and after annealing in the flow of oxygen or forming gas. We found that ZnO nanoparticles with higher photoluminescence (PL) intensity (fewer nonradiative defects) exhibited a high photocatalytic activity. Samples exhibiting high PL intensity presented lower concentrations of surface adsorbates, which is consistent with lower native defect density in those samples. It was observed that annealing did not result in an improvement in photocatalytic activity of the samples with low defect density (high PL intensity). For the samples with low PL intensity, the same annealing condition could result in an improvement or worsening of photocatalytic activity, depending on the starting properties of the samples. Variable effects of annealing on samples with different properties indicate that the effect of a post-growth treatment cannot be generalized for all ZnO samples. The improvements in the photocatalytic activity were observed for a cationic dye methylene blue, while for an anionic dye acid red 27 annealing resulted in the changes in the amount of adsorbed dye, but no improvement in the photocatalytic activity for dye degradation. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available