Constructing and enhanced degradation rate of N-AZO/TiO2 core/shell nanocomposite by idiopathic molecular cladding process

The N-AZO/TiO2 heterogeneous nanocomposite with core/shell structure revealed a better photocatalytic activity than the single N-AZO nanocrystals (NCs) even though it has a good photocatalytic effect. The recombination degree of photo-induced electrons and holes reduced significantly after molecular TiO2 layer composited on the surface of N-AZO NCs. From the experiment of degrading rhodamine B solution (2 × 10-5 g/L) under solar light, the optimum photocatalytic efficiency was the N-AZO/TiO2 composite prepared by idiopathic molecule-cladding (IMC) process and the best proportion of Zn/Ti was 2:1 in our research, which improved by 67% than pure N-AZO. Moreover, the N-AZO/TiO2 composite prepared by IMC process achieved a molecular combination level between the two components, which not only can improve the immobility of composite structure, but also can make the photogenerated electrons and holes transport easier.