Nanorod-pillared mesoporous rGO/ZnO/Au hybrids for photocatalytic Cr (VI) reduction: Enhanced Cr(VI) adsorption and solar energy harvest

Herein, we fabricated mesoporous ternary hybrids composed of Au-functionalized ZnO nanorods grown on rGO nanosheets. The ZnO nanorods distributed on the rGO nanosheets can act as a pillaring layer to avoid the agglomeration of rGO, leading to the formation of abundant mesopores within the hybrids. The high-surface-area, mesoporous hybrids can offer sufficient active sites and transport channels for efficient adsorption and diffusion of Cr(VI), which was favorable for its photocatalytic reduction due to the adsorption enrichment effects. Moreover, the plasmonic-induced visible-light absorption of Au nanoparticles and efficient charge separation by rGO synergistically contributed to the significantly improved solar-light-driven photocatalytic Cr(VI) reduction properties of the ternary hybrids.