Consecutive metal oxides with self-supported nanoarchitecture achieves highly stable and enhanced photoelectrocatalytic oxidation for water purification

Abstract

Owing to its low cost and plentiful different semiconductor configurations resources, photoelectrocatalysis (PEC) has come into the spotlight in large-scale water purification systems. However, the insufficiency of photoelectrocatalytic performance and the issues of long-term durability of current electrode materials are the main bottlenecks for future latent applications. Here, we reported that the multidimensional Ti/SnO2-Sb/PbO2/ZnO nanoarchitecture (PbO2 nanotrees grown on Sb-doped SnO2 nanowires, then ZnO nanowall embedded into PbO2 nanotrees’ skeleton) significantly boosts the PEC properties in terms of the organic contaminated water treatment (i.e., reactive brilliant blue KN-R). Benefiting from the synergistic effects of ZnO and PbO2 (the ZnO can be used as the supply station of water, promptly transferring water molecules to adjacent PbO2 to yield hydroxyl radicals), Ti/SnO2-Sb/PbO2/ZnO electrode manifests an unprecedented removal rate of dye, large electroactive areas, noticeable wettability, and high separation efficiency of induced carriers, better stability, which represents a type of promising material in the applications of water purification.