A combined wet chemical strategy was adopted to fabricate size controllable
ZnO-MoO3 core-shell nanostructures by varying the surface potential in the
reaction medium. The layered MoO3 was adsorbed on the surface of ZnO
particles by electrostatic interaction and simultaneously anchored onto
graphene nanosheets (GNS) by chemical bonds. The sunlight induced
photocatalytic phenomena of the GNS-ZnO-MoO3 hybrid nanoassemblies have been
examined by photodegradation of harmful organic pollutant. As a result, the
as-synthesized GNS-ZnO-MoO3 hybrid nanoassemblies showed a better
photocatalytic performance towards acridine orange dye (AO). The efficient
photocatalytic performance was due to the interfacial charge transfer
processes between GNS and ZnO-MoO3 that improves the electronic conductivity
of the hybrid nanostructure. Moreover, the chemical bonds formed between the
MoO3 shells and GNS efficiently hinder the recombination loss of
photogenerated charges. This synthesis strategy was very simple, effective
and can be extended to assembling other ternary nanostructures with enhanced
photodegradation performance.
Role of interfacial charge transfer process in the graphene-ZnO-MoO3 core-shell nanoassemblies for efficient disinfection of industrial effluents