Enhancement photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B on nanoPt intercalated Zn-Ti layered double hydroxides

NanoPt intercalated Zn-Ti layered double hydroxides (LDHs) have been synthesized by ionic exchange and photochemical reduction method from Zn-Ti LDHs in H2PtCl6 solution. X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), N2 adsorption at 77 K, UV-vis analysis and the electrochemical impedance were adopted to investigate the structure, surface, micromorphology, photoresponsive and electrochemical properties of the as-synthesized samples. The combination of Zn-Ti-LDHs and Pt introduces some properties of Pt into photocatalysis such as excellent conductivity and controllability. Remarkable 17-fold enhancement in the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) reaction was observed on as-prepared Pt/Zn-Ti LDHs compared with pure Zn-Ti LDHs under simulated sunlight irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic activity could be attributed to high specific surface (111.46 m2/g), extended photoresponding range, the negative shift in the flat-band potentials and the high migration efficiency of photoinduced electrons, which may suppress the charge recombination effectively.