Dual templating fabrication of hierarchical porous three-dimensional ZnO/carbon nanocomposites for enhanced photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical activity

Herein, a novel fabrication strategy to synthesize the ZnO/C nanocomposite with hierarchical porous structure was proposed with dual templating method that combines both ice and micelle templating. The composite material annealed at 900 °C showed the best photocatalytic reactivity for organic dye degradation compared with samples annealed at other temperatures, which is 2.2/7.0 times of the control ZnO + C sample under UV and visible light irradiation. The sample also showed superior photoelectrochemical performance while ultrasonic assisted photodegradation of methylene blue was also observed. This work demonstrates a novel and feasible approach for processing ZnO based photocatalysts with enhanced reactivity, which can be extended to the design of a broad series of functional metal oxide composites with high electrochemical performance for energy applications.