Construction of Urchin‐Like ZnO/TiO2 Direct Z‐Scheme System to Improve Charge Separation

Abstract The Z‐scheme system urchin‐like ZnO/TiO 2 composite superstructure material was successfully prepared via a facile hydrothermal method for the first time. SEM showed that the amount of ammonia can affect the morphology of ZnO. By controlled the addition amount of Ti(SO 4 ) 2 , reaction time and temperature, the photocatalytic activity of urchin‐like ZnO/TiO 2 (UZT‐4(10.4‐150‐12)) composite was the highest. The photocatalytic degradation rate of rhodamine B was 95.5%, and the rate constant was 0.0141 min −1 , which was 3.59 times than urchin‐like ZnO. XPS measurements confirmed that there is a Z‐scheme heterojunction between urchin‐like ZnO and TiO 2 . The improvement of photocatalytic degradation RhB activity should be attributed to a direct Z‐scheme system, which not only can increase the separation efficiency of photogenerated electron‐hole pairs but also possesses excellent oxidation and reduction ability for high photocatalytic performances.