Improve photocatalytic performance of ZnO through coordination of ZnO/ZnIn2S4 heterojunction and graphene oxide

In order to obtain high-performance semiconductor photocatalysts, ZnO nanoparticles were adsorbed on the surface of GO/ZnIn2S4 in this study. Through the synergistic effect between GO and ZnO/ZnIn2S4 type-II heterojunction, the recombination rate of photogenerated carriers was reduced, and the light absorption performance of the photocatalyst was improved. At the same time, pure ZnO nanoparticles, pure ZnIn2S4 and GO/ZnIn2S4 were prepared for comparison. Different photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscope, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The photocatalytic experiments of methylene orange show that the photocatalytic kinetic coefficient of GO/ZnO/ZnIn2S4 is 5.4 times that of pure ZnO, and it is also better than other samples. Based on photoluminescence spectroscopy, the mechanism of improving the photocatalytic performance of GO/ZnO/ZnIn2S4 was explored.

Automated summary

In this study, ZnO nanoparticles were adsorbed on the surface of GO/ZnIn2S4 to obtain high-performance semiconductor photocatalysts. Through the synergistic effect between GO and ZnO/ZnIn2S4 type-II heterojunction, the recombination rate of photogenerated carriers was reduced, and the light absorption performance of the photocatalyst was improved. Experiment results showed that GO/ZnO/ZnIn2S4 exhibited a 5.4 times higher photocatalytic kinetic coefficient for methylene orange compared to pure ZnO, indicating its superior performance among the samples.