Facile Synthesis of Heterostructured ZnO–ZnS Nanocables and Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

Abstract

An efficient photocatalyst consisting of heterostructured ZnO–ZnS nanocables was synthesized via a template‐assisted method. The ZnS shell with an adjustable thickness around 10 nm can be synthesized in a sodium sulfide solution from electrospun zinc oxide (ZnO) nanofibers, resulting in the core–shell nanostructures. The morphology and structure of the samples during the conversion process were characterized, and the corresponding ultraviolet photocatalytic activity was evaluated by using rhodamine B degradation as a probe reaction. The coupling of the two photocatalysts suggests a higher photon efficiency and an enhanced exciton separation, which lead to a remarkable improvement of the photocatalytic activity by ∼10 times as compared with pure ZnO nanofibers.