Solvothermal synthesis of Cu-doped ZnO nanowires with visible light-driven photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Cu-doped ZnO nanowires were fabricated by a solvothermal route from Zn(NO3)2·6H2O, Cu(NO3)2·3H2O and NaOH. Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy and 63Cu solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SS-NMR) spectra results confirmed the doping of Cu into ZnO lattices. UV–vis absorption spectra of both pure ZnO and Cu-doped ZnO displayed a band gap absorption peak at about 365nm. But, compared with pure ZnO, an additional broad tail from approximately 400nm to 700nm appeared in the UV–vis absorption spectra of Cu-doped ZnO. The photocatalytic studies indicated that the as-synthesized Cu-doped ZnO nanowires were a kind of promising photocatalyst in remediation of water polluted by some chemically stable azo dyes under visible light.