Abstract
Synthesis of semiconductor-MOF heterostructure photocatalysts has attracted considerable attention for their thermal stability, controllable crystallinity, and enhanced photocatalytic activity. In this work, the hollow nanostructure of anatase TiO2 was prepared by etching SiO2 from core–shell SiO2@TiO2 nanoparticles. ZIF-8, one of the metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), was hybrid synthesized on the surface of hollow TiO2 and formed double-shell hollow nanoparticles. The photocatalytic activity of the double-shell hollow TiO2@ZIF-8 nanoparticles toward methylene blue (MB) under UV light irradiation was processed, and the highest photocatalytic efficiency of 99.1% was shown compared with TiO2 and SiO2@TiO2 nanoparticles. This study suggests a promising approach to achieve an advanced photocatalytic performance toward dye degradation using MOFs for the surface engineering of semiconductors.
Highlights
TiO2, one of the most important semiconductor photocatalysts, has been widely used for removing organic pollutants due to its high photocatalytic activity, low cost, and chemical stability (Waldmann and Paz, 2016; Sun et al, 2019)
The double-shell hollow TiO2@Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) nanoparticles were synthesized by coating ZIF-8 on the hollow TiO2 nanoparticles
The morphology and other properties of the synthesized nanoparticles were studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), EDX, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), and BET surface area, Thermal gravimetric (TG), and UV-Vis
Summary
TiO2, one of the most important semiconductor photocatalysts, has been widely used for removing organic pollutants due to its high photocatalytic activity, low cost, and chemical stability (Waldmann and Paz, 2016; Sun et al, 2019). It has been reported that the photocatalytic performance of TiO2 can be significantly influenced by different morphologies such as nanotubes (Nakata et al, 2011), nanorods (Wang et al, 2007), nanosheets (Aoyama et al, 2012), and hollow spheres (Liu et al, 2009) Among these structures, TiO2 hollow spheres show enhanced photocatalytic performance because of their low density, high specific surface area, good surface permeability, and high light-trapping efficiency (Wu et al, 2012; Pan et al, 2014). The catalytic efficiency of MOFs is lower than that of the traditional semiconductors (TiO2, CdS, and ZnO) because of low charge separation efficiency (Alvaro et al, 2007; Lee et al, 2009; Wang et al, 2015) This work illustrated the strategy of enhancing photocatalytic activity by modifying hollow TiO2 nanoparticles with a high surface area of ZIF-8 to improve adsorption and charge transfer efficiency
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