MOF-5 derived C-doped ZnO decorated with Cu cocatalyst for enhancing visible-light driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

In this work, the copper decorated C-doped ZnO photocatalyst (Cu/C-ZnO) was prepared from the zinc-based metal organic framework composite (MOF-5). Copper was loaded onto the surface of the C-ZnO by photo-reduction method, and the 10 mu m octahedron morphology MOF-5 particles were refined to 77 +/- 5 nm. The derived Cu/C-ZnO showed a nanometer-scaled structure, which was beneficial for the visible-light response. Moreover, oxygen vacancy can narrow the band gap of ZnO and increase the electron density in Fermi level by the doping of C, which contributes to the charge transfer and separation. A plasma resonance effect was shown when copper was loaded onto the surface of the C-ZnO. The obtained Cu/C-ZnO photocatalysts showed an excellent photocatalytic hydrogen evolution character in visible-light, and the optimal hydrogen production rate reached to 5.363 mmol/g/h which was about 9663 times higher than that of pure ZnO.