Preparation and Photocatalytic Performance of Dumbbell Ag2CO3-ZnO Heterojunctions

Jiaxin Li; Renquan Guan; Junkai Zhang; Zhao Zhao; Hongju Zhai; Dewu Sun; Yunfeng Qi

doi:10.1021/acsomega.9b03131

Preparation and Photocatalytic Performance of Dumbbell Ag₂CO₃-ZnO Heterojunctions

ACS Omega. 2019 Dec 23;5(1):570-577. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.9b03131. eCollection 2020 Jan 14.

Authors

Jiaxin Li^{1

2}, Renquan Guan^{1

2}, Junkai Zhang¹, Zhao Zhao¹, Hongju Zhai^{1

2}, Dewu Sun^{1

2}, Yunfeng Qi²

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Preparation and Applications of Environmental Friendly Materials of the Ministry of Education and Key Laboratory of Functional Materials Physics and Chemistry of the Ministry of Education, Jilin Normal University, Changchun 130103, China.
² College of Chemistry and College of Life Science, Jilin Normal University, Siping 136000, China.

Abstract

Dumbbell Ag₂CO₃-ZnO heterojunctions were synthesized for the first time via a simple in situ precipitation method. The as-prepared Ag₂CO₃-ZnO heterojunction showed high photocatalytic activity in the decomposition of methyl orange aqueous solution under simulated solar irradiation. The high improvement of photocatalytic activity compared to that of pure ZnO can be attributed to the formation of the Ag₂CO₃-ZnO heterojunction. Furthermore, the mechanism of photocatalytic activity was investigated in detail. The free radical trapping experiments indicated that the superoxide radical (·O₂ ^-) was an important active species in the photocatalytic process. This paper provides a new prospect for the preparation of photocatalysts with high catalytic performance in the degradation of dye wastewater.