Fabrication and enhanced photocatalytic property of TiO2-ZnO composite photocatalysts

Abstract TiO2 nanotube and TiO2-ZnO composite photocatalysts were fabricated by simple hydrothermal method, and the photocatalytic property of as-prepared samples were analyzed by the photo degradation of rhodamine B water solutions under visible light irradiation. The prepared TiO2-ZnO composite photocatalysts exhibited excellent property in photo degradation of rhodamine B water solution, which is better than that of P25. The enhancement photocatalytic property of target photocatalysts could be attributed to the reduced band gap energy, the enhanced-surface physic-chemical properties, the separation of photo induced electron-hole pairs and the decreased recombination rate. In addition, TiO2-ZnO composite photocatalysts showed good stability for rhodamine B photo degradation under visible light.