The ZnO nanorod was synthesized by the hydrothermal method, and Cu/ZnO nanorod was synthesized by modifying the prepared ZnO nanorod.The TEM was used to characterize the morphology and microstructure for ZnO and Cu/ZnO nanorod.The length ofnanorod ZnO was about 700-800 nm, and the diameter about 40-50 nm.There was no change of ZnO in length and diameter when doped with Cu.The degradation of methylene blue (MB) in an aqueous solution under sunlight irradiation was carried out to evaluate the photocatalytic activity.The Cu/ZnO nanorod shows significantly higher photocatalytic activity (99.91%) than ZnO nanorod (89.66%) under sunlight irradiation.The degradation of MB accords with pseudo-first order kinetics, and the appear rate constants kapp of 7% Cu/ZnO nanorod was about 3 times higher than ZnO nanorod.The synergetic effect between ZnO nanorod and Cu on the photocatalytic degradation of MB exists clearly for all the nanorods, and the optimum synergetic effect was found at a weight ratio of 7 wt % (Cu/ZnO).It hoped our works could provide valuable information on the synthesis and application of ZnO-based heterogeneous photocatalysis.
Wei-liang Wang Chuan-xi Yang Fen Zhang Ping Li Guan-wei Cui
College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, China;Institute of E College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, China;College of Res Party School of the Shandong Committee of the Communist Party of China, Jinan 250013, P.R.China Business School of Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, P.R.China College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Na