Heterojunction α-Fe2O3/ZnO Films with Enhanced Photocatalytic Properties Grown by Aerosol-Assisted Chemical Vapour Deposition

Abstract

Type I heterojunction films of α-Fe2O3/ZnO are reported here as a non-titania based photocatalyst, which shows remarkable enhancement in the photocatalytic properties towards stearic acid degradation under UVA-light exposure (λ=365 nm), with a quantum efficiency of ξ=4.42±1.54×10−4 molecules degraded/photon, which was about 16 times greater than that of α-Fe2O3, and 2.5 times greater than that of ZnO. Considering that the degradation of stearic acid requires 104 electron transfers for each molecule, this represents an overall quantum efficiency of 4.60 % for the α-Fe2O3/ZnO heterojunction. Time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) revealed the charge-carrier behaviour responsible for this increase in activity. Photogenerated electrons, formed in the ZnO layer, were transferred into the α-Fe2O3 layer on the pre-μs timescale, which reduced electron–hole recombination. This increased the lifetime of photogenerated holes formed in ZnO, which oxidise stearic acid. The heterojunction α-Fe2O3/ZnO films grown herein show potential environmental applications as coatings for self-cleaning windows and surfaces.