Photocatalytic activities of Fe2O3 coated ZnO nanowires grown by electrochemical anodization method

In this study, the visible light photocatalytic activities of the ZnO and ZnO/Fe2O3 structures were investigated. Anodization of Zn plates to obtain ZnO nanowires was carried out by applying 35 V between 1 and 30 min durations. Fe2O3 layers were coated on initially obtained ZnO nanowires through a sol-gel spin-coating process. All samples were examined for morphological, structural, optical, and photocatalytic activities in detail. The results showed that the conducted anodization process was successful where up to micrometer-length nanowires were obtained. SEM images confirmed the presence of Fe2O3 deposits surrounding the nanowires, while UV and visible absorption spectra indicated increased absorption due to Fe2O3, leading to enhanced photocatalytic performance. The best-performing ZnO nanowire anodized for 5 min almost doubled its photocatalytic activity after Fe2O3 coating, in which an apparent reaction rate of 12.24 x 10-3 min- 1 and degrading 90.32 % of the initial MB concentration was recorded.