Construction of ZnO nanosheet arrays within BiVO4 particles on a conductive magnetically driven cilia film with enhanced visible photocatalytic activity

Abstract We explored an active inner-motile photocatalytic film, which integrates three functional modules, i.e. conductive magnetic cilia, ZnO nanosheet arrays and BiVO4 nanoparticles, with the aim to simultaneously improve light absorption, interior mass transfer, charge separation and transport. Owing to the magnetic cilia, which can mimic ciliary motion like nature beating cilia under a rotational magnetic field, the inner mass transfer is boosted with enhanced photocatalytic activity. Moreover, through coupling BiVO4/ZnO nanosheet arrays, a heterojunction is generated to reduce the electron−hole recombination and improve the charge transport. Furthermore, ZnO nanosheet arrays can effectively trap the light by extending the path length due to multiple reflections. Thus, the multifunctional photocatalyst film can facilitate efficient visible photocatalysis thanks to its good light absorption, charge generation, separation and transfer.