Design of TiO2/ZIF‐8 heterojunction with enhanced visible‐light photocatalytic activity under mild conditions

Abstract

AbstractThe development of new composite materials is of great significance to improve the photocatalytic degradation efficiency. In this article, the TiO2/ZIF‐8 composite materials (TZCM) have been designed via the combination of hydrothermal‐assisted liquid phase deposition and the simple coprecipitation method. The experimental results indicate that the TiO2 and ZIF‐8 nanoparticles can be tightly bonded together by chemical bonds. Moreover, the TZCM also exhibit a significantly increased specific surface area and a reduced band gap width, which would provide more active sites and realize the visible‐light response during the photocatalytic process. The photodegradation rate and the corresponding first‐order reaction rate of methylene blue within 24 min by TiO2/ZIF‐8 composite material (e.g., sample TZCM‐3) is 93.36% and 0.1376 min−1, which is 31 times and 17 times that of pristine TiO2 and ZIF‐8, respectively. According to the photoelectrochemical experiments, the separation efficiency of photogenerated electrons and holes in TZCM sample during the photocatalytic process could be significantly enhanced.