Effects of solvent‐induced morphology evolution of Zn₂GeO₄ on photocatalytic activities of g‐C₃N₄/Zn₂GeO₄ composites

Abstract

Morphology modulation of photocatalyst has been demonstrated to be a crucial strategy for improving the catalytic performance in solar energy conversion system. Here we systematically investigated the influence of the solvent-dependent morphology evolution of Zn 2 GeO 4 phase on the photocatalytic efficiency of the as-prepared g-C 3 N 4 /Zn 2 GeO 4 composites. The morphologies of Zn 2 GeO 4 were rationally tuned from flower-like nanosheets to length-controllable nanorods, and microclusters assembled from microrods through regulating the solution polarity of different organic solvents. Accordingly, the Zn 2 GeO 4 sample prepared in ethylene glycol (EG) with long rod-like morphology and integrated with g-C 3 N 4 , abbreviated as g-C 3 N 4 / Zn 2 GeO 4 (1:1)-EG, exhibited the best visible-light absorption ability and the highest efficiency. The synergetic effect of the long rod-like Zn 2 GeO 4 phase with many exposed (110) crystalline facets and g-C 3 N 4 accelerates the separation and interface transportation of photoexcited charge carriers, as confirmed by photocurrent measurements. The MB degradation mechanism was also proposed to clarify the chargetransfer process and the improved photodegradation activity. This study offers an experimental basis for understanding the significance of morphology control on rational design of photocatalysts with improved performance. K E Y W O R D Sdegradation, photocatalysis, photoreaction, Zn 2 GeO 4 6518 | PEI Et al.

Photo-thermochemical CO2 Splitting Based on Zinc-germanium Binary Oxide

“…ZnO 是 Zn 最简单的 氧化物, 禁带宽度为 3.37 eV, 与 TiO 2 接近, 由于其来源 丰富、性质稳定, 在光催化和热化学分解 CO 2 领域中均 受到深入的研究 [23][24][25] . 而 Zn 2 GeO 4 是一种宽禁带半导体, 仅能响应深紫外光(＜350 nm), 但由于其独特的 d 10 电子 构型以及良好的氧空位形成能力也受到了研究人员的 关注 [26][27][28] . 光热协同反应对催化材料的光响应以及氧空 位形成能力均有一定要求 [29] .…”

Biomass porous carbon as the active site to enhance photodegradation of oxytetracycline on mesoporous g-C3N4

“…[17][18][19] However, the photocatalytic activity of g-C 3 N 4 was limited by the small specic surface area, high combination rate of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and low utilization efficiency of the visible light. 18,20,21 Consequently, some strategies such as element doping, 22,23 constructing heterojunction [24][25][26] and morphology control 27,28 have been adopted to enhance the photocatalytic performance of g-C 3 N 4 . Among them, increasing the specic surface area was regarded as the more simply and practical way to modify the g-C 3 N 4 .…”