Novel hydrogen bonding composite based on copper phthalocyanine/perylene diimide derivatives p-n heterojunction with improved photocatalytic activity

Among photocatalytic materials, p-n heterojunction-type photocatalysts has good photocatalytic performance under visible light irradiation. Herein, a novel Copper phthalocyanine/perylene diimide derivatives p-n heterojunction photoeatalysts based on the intermolecular hydrogen bond between pyridyl and carboxyl was designed and characterized using FT-IR, UV–vis and photoluminescence spectra, and then compared their photocatalytic performance by degradation for rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. The hydrogen bond composites shows significant higher photocatalytic activity comparing with its parent, and the photocatalysis increased with increasing of mole fraction of perylene diimide derivatives. The change of morphology and p-n heterojunction structure are in favor of the high photocatalytic active. Furthermore, the photocatalytic mechanism was investigated by radical scavengers testing, that confirmed hydroxyl radical (OH) was the main reactive species for the degradation of RhB.