A highly efficient and environmentally-friendly oxidation process is always desirable for air purification. This study reported a novel carbon quantum dots (CQDs)/ZnFe 2 O 4 composite photocatalyst for the first time through a facile hydrothermal process. The CQDs/ZnFe 2 O 4 (15 vol %) composite demonstrates stronger transient photocurrent response, approximately 8 times higher than that of ZnFe 2 O 4, indicating superior transfer efficiency of photogenerated electrons and separation efficiency of photogenerated electron–hole pairs. Compared with pristine ZnFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles, CQDs/ZnFe 2 O 4 displayed enhanced photocatalytic activities on gaseous NO x removal and high selectivity for nitrate formation under visible light (λ > 420 nm) irradiation. Electron spin resonance analysis and a series of radical-trapping experiments showed that the reactive species contributing to NO elimination were ·O 2 – and ·OH radicals. The possible mechanisms were proposed regarding how CQDs improve the photocatalytic performance of ZnFe 2 O 4 . The CQDs are believed to act as an electron reservoir and transporter as well as a powerful energy-transfer component during the photocatalysis processes over CQDs/ZnFe 2 O 4 samples. Furthermore, the toxicity assessment authenticated good biocompatibility and low cytotoxity of CQDs/ZnFe 2 O 4 . The results of this study indicate that CQDs/ZnFe 2 O 4 is a promising photocatalyst for air purification.
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Huang et al. (2017) studied this question.
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