Influence of laminated architectures of heterostructured CeO2-ZnO and Fe2O3-ZnO films on photodegradation performances

The development of photocatalytically active films has gained a great attention in recent years. Herein, new heterostructured films associating ZnO and CeO2 or Fe2O3 and exhibiting various architectures were prepared by the solution precursor thermal spray (SPPS) process. The paper examines the effect of the films laminated architectures on the photodegradation performance. For CeO2-ZnO and Fe2O3-ZnO films, the photodegradation efficiency of the Orange II dye is 100% and 95% after 240 min UV light irradiation and after 360 min visible light irradiation, respectively. The photocatalytic activity of the laminated structures was found to depend on the materials used to construct the heterostructured catalysts. For CeO2 which exhibits a good photoactivity, intermediately-laminated architecture was demonstrated to play a key role. By contrast, a non-laminated architecture is more suitable for materials exhibiting a modest photocatalytic activity (Fe2O3, ZnFe2O4). This study describes a novel route for depositing photocatalytically active laminated films and the influences of their structures on the photocatalytic performance.