Indexed by:期刊论文

Date of Publication:2011-10-01

Journal:NANOSCALE

Included Journals:SCIE、EI、Scopus

Volume:3

Issue:10

Page Number:4195-4200

ISSN No.:2040-3364

Abstract:In this work, wurtzite ZnO nanocrystals with unique "pyramid'' morphology were firstly prepared via solvothermal synthesis. It was determined that the ZnO nanopyramids are grown along the polar c-axis with the vertexes pointing to the [001] direction. When the mixture of ZnO nanopyramids and Au precursor (HAuCl4) was exposed to ultraviolet (UV) illumination, Au particles were site-specifically formed on the vertexes of ZnO nanopyramids. The obtained Au/ZnO nanocomposite showed significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity as compared to the bare ZnO nanopyramids. First-principles based calculations well explained the formation of ZnO nanopyramids as well as the site-specific growth of Au, and revealed that during the photocatalysis process the Au particles can accommodate photoelectrons and thus facilitate the charge separation.