This work investigates the construction of hierarchical GaFeOx/ZnO NR array based hetrojunctions for enhanced visible light driven catalytic activity. GaFeOx/ZnO NR heterojunctions were fabricated by sputter depositing GaFe layer over vapor phase transport (VPT) grown vertically aligned ZnO NR array followed by annealing at 300°C under oxygen atmosphere. GaFeOx/ZnO NR structures were characterized XRD, SEM, TEM, EDAX, UV DRS and XPS analysis. The results confirm that GaFeOx were decorated over the ZnO NR arrays with the assembly of rod like morphology with the length of 10-50 nm and each individual grains of 3-5 nm. Photocatalytic (PC) degradation of rhodamine B, methyl orange and their mixture form were studied. GaFeOx/ZnO NR array exhibited visible catalytic degradation rate of 0.0494 min-1, which has nearly 3.2 and 2.3 times higher than that of pristine ZnO and as prepared GaFe-ZnO structures. The enhanced photocatalytic performance could be attributed to effective carrier separation between the GaFeOx/ZnO interfaces. The complex oxide systems have promoted the light sensitivity which exhibits its reactivity under natural sunlight irradiation. Effective production of reactive oxide species (ROS) was quantified through the trapping experiments. A study of the mechanism suggests that the enhanced photocatalytic activity is due to the formation of ZnO-GaFeOx junctions, which leads to the efficient separation of photoinduced carriers under visible irradiation.

Magnetically interactive hierarchical assembly of GaFeOx decorated vertically aligned ZnO nanorod arrays for enhanced visible photocatalytic activity

254th National Meeting (2017)

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