Rational construction of ZnO/CuS heterostructures-modified PVDF nanofiber photocatalysts with enhanced photocatalytic activity

Chuanfeng Zang; Hao Chen; Xiangye Han; Wei Zhang; Junfang Wu; Fanghua Liang; Jiamu Dai; Hongchao Liu; Guangyu Zhang; Ke-Qin Zhang; Mingzheng Ge

doi:10.1039/d2ra06151a

Rational construction of ZnO/CuS heterostructures-modified PVDF nanofiber photocatalysts with enhanced photocatalytic activity

RSC Adv. 2022 Nov 29;12(52):34107-34116. doi: 10.1039/d2ra06151a. eCollection 2022 Nov 22.

Authors

Chuanfeng Zang¹, Hao Chen¹, Xiangye Han¹, Wei Zhang¹, Junfang Wu¹, Fanghua Liang¹, Jiamu Dai¹, Hongchao Liu², Guangyu Zhang¹, Ke-Qin Zhang³, Mingzheng Ge^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ School of Textile and Clothing, Nantong University Nantong 226019 P. R. China zhangwei@ntu.edu.cn zgyu85@ntu.edu.cn mingzhengge@umac.mo.
² Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering, University of Macau Macau 999078 P. R. China.
³ Jiangsu Engineering Research Center of Textile Dyeing and Printing for Energy Conservation, Discharge Reduction and Cleaner Production, National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Soochow University Suzhou 215123 P. R. China.

Abstract

PVDF/ZnO/CuS photocatalysts with ZnO/CuS heterojunctions were synthesized via electrospinning, hydrothermal, and ion-exchange techniques. As matrix materials, electrospun PVDF nanofibers are easy to be recycled and reused. ZnO nanorods anchored on PVDF nanofiber with high specific surface area provide abundant active reaction sites for photocatalysis. While the loaded CuS nanoparticles as a photosensitizer compensate the low quantum efficiency of ZnO and improve the visible-light photocatalytic efficiency. As a result, the PVDF/ZnO/CuS composited photocatalyst exhibits outstanding photocatalytic performance in exposure to UV and visible light owing to the suppressed recombination of electron-hole pairs and widened visible light absorption range. The kinetic constants of PVDF/ZnO/CuS nanocomposites under UV irradiation (9.01 × 10^-3 min^-1) and visible light (6.53 × 10^-3 min^-1) irradiation were 3.66 and 2.53 times higher than that of PVDF/ZnO (2.46 × 10^-3 min^-1 & 2.58 × 10^-3 min^-1), respectively. Furthermore, PVDF/ZnO/CuS nanocomposites demonstrate excellent robustness in terms of recycling and reuse, which is advantageous in practical applications.