Facile synthesis of Au/ZnO nanoparticles and their enhanced photocatalytic activity for hydroxylation of benzene

Au/ZnO nanocomposites have been prepared by a simple chemical method. For the first time, the nanocomposites were directly used as photocatalysts for hydroxylation of aromatic hydrocarbons under UV and visible light irradiation. The results show that the as-prepared photocatalysts display high photo...

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Published inBulletin of materials science Vol. 36; no. 3; pp. 367 - 372
Main Authors YU, HANG, MING, HAI, GONG, JINGJING, LI, HAITAO, HUANG, HUI, PAN, KEMING, LIU, YANG, KANG, ZHENHUI, WEI, JIE, WANG, DONGTIAN
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published India Springer-Verlag 01.06.2013
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Aqueous solutions
Aromatic hydrocarbons
Benzene
Catalytic activity
Chemistry and Materials Science
Chromatography
Conduction bands
Electron microscopes
Electrons
Energy consumption
Engineering
Ethanol
Gold
Hydrocarbons
Hydroxylation
Light
Light irradiation
Materials Science
Nanocomposites
Nanocrystals
Nanoparticles
Phenols
Photocatalysis
Photocatalysts
Scanning electron microscopy
Semiconductors
Sensors
Transmission electron microscopy
Ultraviolet radiation
Zinc oxide
Zinc oxide
visible light
photocatalysis
gold nanoparticles
nanocomposites
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Summary:Au/ZnO nanocomposites have been prepared by a simple chemical method. For the first time, the nanocomposites were directly used as photocatalysts for hydroxylation of aromatic hydrocarbons under UV and visible light irradiation. The results show that the as-prepared photocatalysts display high photocatalytic activity for UV and visible catalytic hydroxylation of benzene. Without the assistance of any solvent or additive, high selectivity and high conversion efficiency were still obtained. Different photocatalytic mechanisms were proposed depending on whether excitation happens on ZnO semiconductor or on the surface plasmon band of Au. The former is Au nanoparticles act as electron buffer due to irradiation by UV light and ZnO nanoparticles as reactive sites for hydroxylation of benzene, the latter is that Au nanoparticles act as light harvesters and inject electrons into ZnO conduction band and as photocatalytic sites under visible light irradiation.
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ISSN:0250-4707
0973-7669
DOI:10.1007/s12034-013-0491-y