Enhanced visible-light photocatalytic performance of ZIF-8-derived ZnO/TiO2 nano-burst-tube by solvothermal system adjustment

Abstract

A novel strategy for the preparation of heterojunction derivants by regulating the loading of precursors was proposed and applied for the first time to effectively remove dyes and antibiotics. Zeolite imidazole framework-8 (ZIF-8)-derived ZnO/TiO2 nano-burst-tube (NBT) was prepared by calcination of ZIF-8 as precursor grown in a solvothermal system adjusted by NH4OH or NaOH, TiO2 NBT as solvothermal substrate. Through a reasonable selection of solvothermal system, ZIF-8-derived ZnO/TiO2 NBT not only provides enhanced specific surface area (1012.3 m2/g), but also enhances the visible light response and charge separation of TiO2 NBT, whose instantaneous photocurrent density is up to 53 mA cm−2, which is three times that of TiO2 NBT. Under visible light irradiation, ZnO/TiO2 NBT achieved rapid degradation of Rhodamine B(RhB), tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) and chlortetracycline hydrochloride (CTC) with complete removal within 20 min, outperforming ZnO, ZIF-8, TiO2 NBT and ZIF-8/TiO2 NBT, with excellent cyclic photocatalytic performance. The results show that the degradation pathways of RhB, TCH and CTC are different. The work provides a promising strategy for multifunctional derivative photocatalytic materials preparation.