Understanding the Correlation of Crystal Atoms with Photochemistry Property: Zn 5 (OH) 6 (CO 3 ) 2 vs . ZnCO 3

Abstract In this work, Zn 5 (OH) 6 (CO 3 ) 2 nanosheets are prepared by a simple hydrothermal method, and ZnCO 3 are also prepared to compare. It is found that compared with ZnCO 3 , hydroxyl anion greatly changes energy band structure and oxidation potential of valence band, and improves charge separation efficiency and rates of Zn 5 (OH) 6 (CO 3 ) 2 . The time‐resolved photoluminescence (PL) results show that the average lifetime (τ) of carriers is 1.485 ns for Zn 5 (OH) 6 (CO 3 ) 2 , while 0.380 ns for ZnCO 3 , illustrating a greatly low carrier recombination rate of Zn 5 (OH) 6 (CO 3 ) 2 ; and Zn 5 (OH) 6 (CO 3 ) 2 has a 20 times photocurrent higher than ZnCO 3 . Besides, Zn 5 (OH) 6 (CO 3 ) 2 has a greatly higher oxidation potential (5.05 V) than ZnCO 3 (3.17 V), suggesting a high oxidizing ability of Zn 5 (OH) 6 (CO 3 ) 2 . Under ultraviolet light irradiation (λ≤400 nm), 92% of MB can be degraded by Zn 5 (OH) 6 (CO 3 ) 2 after 80 min, which is 2.31 times as high as that of ZnCO 3 , although Zn 5 (OH) 6 (CO 3 ) 2 has a lower BET area (5.8 m 2 g −1 ) than ZnCO 3 (7.7 m 2 g −1 ). This work favors to insight into the correlation of crystal atoms with photochemistry property for a photocatalyst.