Oxygen Vacancies in Shape Controlled Cu2O/Reduced Graphene Oxide/In2O3 Hybrid for Promoted Photocatalytic Water Oxidation and Degradation of Environmental Pollutants

Jie Liu; Jun Ke; Degang Li; Hongqi Sun; Ping Liang; Xiaoguang Duan; Wenjie Tian; Moses O. Tadé; Shaomin Liu; Shaobin Wang

doi:10.1021/acsami.7b01605

Oxygen Vacancies in Shape Controlled Cu₂O/Reduced Graphene Oxide/In₂O₃ Hybrid for Promoted Photocatalytic Water Oxidation and Degradation of Environmental Pollutants

Jie Liu, Jun Ke, Degang Li, Hongqi Sun, Ping Liang, Xiaoguang Duan, Wenjie Tian, Moses O. Tadé, Shaomin Liu, Shaobin Wang

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148 Citations (Scopus)

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 Cu₂O/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 efficiently.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	11678-11688
Number of pages	11
Journal	ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume	9
Issue number	13
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.7b01605
Publication status	Published - 5 Apr 2017
Externally published	Yes

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10.1021/acsami.7b01605

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Liu, J., Ke, J., Li, D., Sun, H., Liang, P., Duan, X., Tian, W., Tadé, M. O., Liu, S., & Wang, S. (2017). Oxygen Vacancies in Shape Controlled Cu₂O/Reduced Graphene Oxide/In₂O₃ Hybrid for Promoted Photocatalytic Water Oxidation and Degradation of Environmental Pollutants. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 9(13), 11678-11688. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.7b01605

@article{989b84ba017f494585563953650a8962,

title = "Oxygen Vacancies in Shape Controlled Cu2O/Reduced Graphene Oxide/In2O3 Hybrid for Promoted Photocatalytic Water Oxidation and Degradation of Environmental Pollutants",

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 Cu2O/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 efficiently.",

keywords = "indium oxide, oxygen vacancies, p-n heterojunction, photocatalysis, shape controlled synthesis",

author = "Jie Liu and Jun Ke and Degang Li and Hongqi Sun and Ping Liang and Xiaoguang Duan and Wenjie Tian and Tad{\'e}, {Moses O.} and Shaomin Liu and Shaobin Wang",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported financially by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grants 21507029 and 21501138), the Nature Science Foundation of Hebei Province (Grant B2016502063), the Open Foundation of Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Grant KLIEEE-15-02), China Ministry of Education and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant 2016MS109), and the Australian Research Council (Grant DP150103026). We also acknowledge the use of equipment and scientific and technical assistance of the WA X-ray Surface Analysis Facility, funded by the Australian Research Council LIEF Grant LE120100026. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 American Chemical Society.",

year = "2017",

month = apr,

day = "5",

doi = "10.1021/acsami.7b01605",

language = "English",

volume = "9",

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Liu, J, Ke, J, Li, D, Sun, H, Liang, P, Duan, X, Tian, W, Tadé, MO, Liu, S & Wang, S 2017, 'Oxygen Vacancies in Shape Controlled Cu₂O/Reduced Graphene Oxide/In₂O₃ Hybrid for Promoted Photocatalytic Water Oxidation and Degradation of Environmental Pollutants', ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, vol. 9, no. 13, pp. 11678-11688. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.7b01605

TY - JOUR

T1 - Oxygen Vacancies in Shape Controlled Cu2O/Reduced Graphene Oxide/In2O3 Hybrid for Promoted Photocatalytic Water Oxidation and Degradation of Environmental Pollutants

AU - Liu, Jie

AU - Ke, Jun

AU - Li, Degang

AU - Sun, Hongqi

AU - Liang, Ping

AU - Duan, Xiaoguang

AU - Tian, Wenjie

AU - Tadé, Moses O.

AU - Liu, Shaomin

AU - Wang, Shaobin

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported financially by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grants 21507029 and 21501138), the Nature Science Foundation of Hebei Province (Grant B2016502063), the Open Foundation of Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Grant KLIEEE-15-02), China Ministry of Education and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant 2016MS109), and the Australian Research Council (Grant DP150103026). We also acknowledge the use of equipment and scientific and technical assistance of the WA X-ray Surface Analysis Facility, funded by the Australian Research Council LIEF Grant LE120100026. Publisher Copyright: © 2017 American Chemical Society.

PY - 2017/4/5

Y1 - 2017/4/5

N2 - 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 Cu2O/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 efficiently.

AB - 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 Cu2O/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 efficiently.

KW - indium oxide

KW - oxygen vacancies

KW - p-n heterojunction

KW - photocatalysis

KW - shape controlled synthesis

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U2 - 10.1021/acsami.7b01605

DO - 10.1021/acsami.7b01605

M3 - Article

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AN - SCOPUS:85017093262

SN - 1944-8244

VL - 9

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EP - 11688

JO - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

JF - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

IS - 13

ER -

Oxygen Vacancies in Shape Controlled Cu₂O/Reduced Graphene Oxide/In₂O₃ Hybrid for Promoted Photocatalytic Water Oxidation and Degradation of Environmental Pollutants

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Oxygen Vacancies in Shape Controlled Cu2O/Reduced Graphene Oxide/In2O3 Hybrid for Promoted Photocatalytic Water Oxidation and Degradation of Environmental Pollutants

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Oxygen Vacancies in Shape Controlled Cu₂O/Reduced Graphene Oxide/In₂O₃ Hybrid for Promoted Photocatalytic Water Oxidation and Degradation of Environmental Pollutants