Oxygen vacancies in shape controlled Cu₂O/reduced graphene oxide/In₂O₃ hybrid for promoted photocatalytic water oxidation and degradation of environmental pollutants
Date
2017
Authors
Liu, J.
Ke, J.
Li, D.
Sun, H.
Liang, P.
Duan, X.
Tian, W.
Tadé, M.O.
Liu, S.
Wang, S.
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
ACS applied materials & interfaces, 2017; 9(13):11678-11688
Statement of Responsibility
Jie Liu, Jun Ke, Degang Li, Hongqi Sun, Ping Liang, Xiaoguang Duan, Wenjie Tian, Moses O. Tade, Shaomin Liu, and Shaobin Wang
Conference Name
Abstract
A novel shape controlled Cu₂O/reduced graphene oxide/In₂O₃ (Cu₂O/RGO/In₂O₃) hybrid with abundant oxygen vacancies was prepared by a facile, surfactant-free method. The hybrid photocatalyst exhibits an increased photocatalytic activity in water oxidation and degradation of environmental pollutants (methylene blue and Cr⁶⁺ solutions) compared with pure In₂O₃ and Cu₂O materials. The presence of oxygen vacancies in CuvO/RGO/In₂O₃ and the formation of heterojunction between In₂O₃ and Cu₂O induce extra diffusive electronic states above the valence band (VB) edge and reduce the band gap of the hybrid consequently. Besides, the increased activity of Cu₂O/RGO/In₂O₃ hybrid is also attributed to the alignment of band edge, a process that is assisted by different Fermi levels between In₂O₃ and Cu₂O, as well as the charge transfer and distribution onto the graphene sheets, which causes the downshift of VB of In₂O₃ and the significant increase in its oxidation potential. Additionally, a built-in electric field is generated on the interface of n-type In₂O₃ and p-type Cu₂O, suppressing the recombination of photoinduced electron–hole pairs and allowing the photogenerated electrons and holes to participate in the reduction and oxidation reactions for oxidizing water molecules and pollutants more efficientl
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Dissertation Note
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Description
Published: March 16, 2017
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© 2017 American Chemical Society