Core-Shell Semiconductor-Graphene Nanoarchitectures for Efficient Photocatalysis: State of the Art and Perspectives.

Semiconductor photocatalysis holds great promise for renewable energy generation and environment remediation, but generally suffers from the serious drawbacks on light absorption, charge generation and transport, and structural stability that limit the performance. The core-shell semiconductor-graphene (CSSG) nanoarchitectures may address these issues due to their unique structures with exceptional physical and chemical properties. This review explores recent advances of the CSSG nanoarchitectures in the photocatalytic performance.

Modulation of ZnO Nanostructure for Efficient Photocatalytic Performance.

Structure has been considered to play an important role in photocatalytic performance of the semiconductors, but the intrinsic factors were rarely revealed. Herein, ZnO nanomaterials in the structures of thin film, nanowire array and nanosheet array were synthesized, and their structural characteristics, optical properties, photocurrent response and photocatalytic efficiency were compared with each other for illustrating the issue. The photoluminescence intensity decreased in the order of nanosheets, thin film and nanowires for improved lifetime of the photoexcited charges.

Band alignment of ZnO-based nanorod arrays for enhanced visible light photocatalytic performance.

A ternary semiconductor ZnO/MoS/AgS nanorod array in an intimate core-shell structure was synthesized on glass substrates. The physicochemical properties and photocatalytical performance of the specimen were characterized and compared with single ZnO and binary ZnO/AgS and ZnO/MoS nanorod arrays. It is found that the coating layers depressed the band edge emission of the ZnO core, improved light absorption in the visible range, reduced charge transfer resistance, and increased photocatalytic activity.