Synthesis of ZnO/ZIF-8 hybrid photocatalysts derived from ZIF-8 with enhanced photocatalytic activity

Controllable conjunction of semiconductors with metal organic frameworks (MOFs) has been an efficient tool to enhance the chemical and physical properties of semiconductors by forming semiconductor–MOF hybrid structures. Herein, a novel MOFs-derived strategy to fabricate ZnO/ZIF-8 hybrid photocatalysts via the micro-catalysis technique by using ZIF-8 as a precursor and AgNO3 as a catalyst is reported. The properties and structures of ZnO/ZIF-8 hybrid photocatalysts can be effectively controlled by adjusting the concentration of AgNO3 solution. The as-prepared ZnO/ZIF-8 hybrid photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, UV-vis, BET and other techniques. Their photocatalytic performances were evaluated by degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) solution under UV light. The results indicate that ZnO/ZIF-8 photocatalysts exhibit excellent photocatalytic properties. ZnO/ZIF-8(50) exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity and can degrade 98.17% RhB after 12 min of UV light irradiation, which is higher than the degradation ability of P25 (95.05%), benefiting from the synergistic effect of ZnO and ZIF-8. Furthermore, the ZnO/ZIF-8 (50) photocatalyst shows high photostability. After four repeated cycles, its photocatalytic efficiency could be maintained at 95.54%.