The Photocatalytic Properties of Al‐doped ZnO Nanotubes Decorated with Cu₂O Nanoparticles

Abstract

Al‐doped ZnO nanotubes (NTs) decorated with Cu 2 O particles (Al‐ZnO/Cu 2 O NTs) are prepared by a two‐step hydrothermal method, and the photocatalytic properties are examined by the degradation of methyl orange (MO) solution under simulated solar light at room temperature. Compared with the Al‐doped ZnO nanorods (Al‐ZnO NRs) and the Al‐doped ZnO NTs (Al‐ZnO NTs), the Al‐ZnO/Cu 2 O NTs exhibit better photocatalytic properties. The improvement of photocatalytic performance of Al‐ZnO/Cu 2 O NTs is attributed to both Cu 2 O particle decoration and NT structures. In the samples, the decoration of Cu 2 O particles can prolong the exciton lifetimes, and the NT structures increase specific area. Therefore, both of these two conditions contribute to improved photocatalytic efficiency.