Facile Construction of Cu/ZnO Heterojunctions for Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance

Abstract

The design and construction of semiconductor–metal heterojunctions are being considered to be an effective way to overcome the limited visible-light absorption of semiconductors. Herein, a facile and scale approach is reported for the first time to synthesize Cu/ZnO heterojunctions by one-step galvanic replacement between Zn and cuprous solution reaction. Two kinds of morphologies Cu/ZnO heterojunctions could be obtained by changing cuprous salt anion such as Br−, Cl− and I−. A flower-like Cu/ZnO heterostructured is chosen as a representative to demonstrate the facility and enhanced photocatalytic performance toward Rhodamine B degradation under visible-light irradiation. Results showed flower-like Cu/ZnO heterojunctions have higher photocatalytic performance than the other two morphologies. The galvanic replacement growth mechanism of Cu/ZnO heterojunctions was also further investigated. It is found that Cu/ZnO heterojunctions formed from Zn and Cu2O at an acid solution and room condition. This work indicates that galvanic replacement reaction at room temperature is an excellent technique to grow Cu/ZnO heterojunctions and demonstrates that the hole and electron transfer between Cu and ZnO can efficiently enhance their photocatalytic performance. This general method can also be further explored to guide the design of metal/metal oxide heterostructured on other substrates, such as Zn, Ni and Cu foils.