Controllable synthesis of PtO modified mesoporous Co3O4 nanocrystals as a highly effective photocatalyst for degradation of Foron Blue dye

Abstract

Incorporating noble metals on semiconductor photocatalysts can promote photoinduced hole–electron separation during the photocatalysis system, leading to improved photocatalytic efficiency. Herein, we report the incorporating of PtO nanoparticles (NPs) (0.3–1.2%) onto mesoporous p-type Co3O4 through a facile impregnation approach to remarkably enhance the photocatalytic ability for Foron Blue (FB) dye degradation under visible light illumination. The results indicated that complete FB dye degradation (100%) was obtained over 0.9% PtO/Co3O4 nanocomposite after 30 min illumination. The highest photocatalytic ability was acquired for 0.9% PtO/Co3O4 nanocomposite with the photodegradation rate of FB dye over approached 11.45 µmol L−1 min−1, which was four-fold larger than that of bare Co3O4 NPs. The highest k value (0.1070 min−1) for 0.9% PtO/Co3O4 photocatalyst was approximately 3.8 times higher than bare Co3O4 NPs (0.0298 min−1). The enhancement photocatalytic ability was referred to the construction heterojunction PtO/Co3O4 interfaces, which facilitated photoinduced charge carriers separation. The PtO/Co3O4 nanocomposites exhibited facile reusability and long-term stability, making them superior for practical application. To evidence our suggested mechanism and determine the mobility and separation efficiency of electron-hole, the photoluminescence (PL) and Transient photocurrent spectra were conducted.