Fabrication of Carbon Dots Modified Porous ZnO Nanorods with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

Porous ZnO nanorods that displayed excellent photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants (RhB and phenol) were prepared via a solvent thermal method followed by surface modification with carbon dots (C-dots) using a deposition method. The photocatalysts were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. The degradation of the organic pollutants using the nanorods was tested under Xe-light illumination and was enhanced following C-dot modification. Nanorods that were modified by the C-dots at a mass fraction of 1.2% (CZn1.2) exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity for the degradation of RhB, which was 2.5 times of the pure porous ZnO nanorods. Additionally, the modified nanorods with strangely oxidation ability could catalyze the degradation of phenol by open-rings reaction under Xe-light illumination. The improved photocatalytic activity was attributed to the effective separation of the photogenerated electrons and holes, in which the C-dots served as the receptor of the photogenerated electrons.