MOF-Derived Porous ZnO Nanocages/rGO/Carbon Sponge-Based Photocatalytic Microreactor for Efficient Degradation of Water Pollutants and Hydrogen Evolution

Semiconductor photocatalysts are of great importance for addressing current environmental and energy crises. However, traditional powdery photocatalytic materials suffer from drawbacks, including difficult separation and weak durability, which do not conform to the practical demand. Herein, we developed a simple dipping-pyrolysis route to fabricate a novel 3D structure photocatalytic microreactor, in which ZIF-8-derived hollow ZnO nanocages are uniformly and firmly distributed throughout the surface of reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-coated carbon sponge frameworks. The obtained carbon network based-porous ZnO bulky photocatalysts exhibit excellent adsorption and photocatalytic degradation performance for organic pollutant, as well as high solar hydrogen production activity. With robust structure, good maneuverability, and convenient recyclability, these monolithic microdevices show a promising prospect toward industrial photocatalytic applications in sustainable environmental remediation and renewable energy generation. Furthermore, our work also demonstrates a versatile synthetic strategy that can be extended to the design of a broad series of porous functional metal oxide/carbon foam bulk composites with high photocatalytic performance and general adaptability.