Modulating nanograin size and oxygen vacancy of porous ZnO nanosheets by highly concentrated Fe-doping effect for durable visible photocatalytic disinfection

Visible light-driven environmentally friendly ZnO semiconductor for durable photocatalytic disinfection and purification of drinking water is very promising.However,the high requirement in ultraviolet absorption and rapid recombination velocity of the photogenerated electron-hole severely hamper the sustainable implementation of ZnO in photocatalysis.Herein,by one"two birds with one stone"strategy,Fe-doping ZnO porous nanosheets(Fe-ZnOPN)composed of ultrafine nanoparticles can be constructed by hydrothermal synthesis of basic zinc carbonate and controlled low-temperature pyrolytic methods.By highly concentrated Fe-doping effect(>7 wt%),the tailoring ZnO nanograin size(~10 nm)and rich oxygen vacancy of catalyst were accessed by ion/vacancy diffusion and nanocrystal rearrangement,superior to the ZnO porous nanosheets(~37 nm).The obtained Fe-ZnOPN were endowed with a larger specific surface area,improved visible light harvesting ability,light response and separation of charge carriers.Such characters allowed the resulting catalyst to afford a 100%bactericidal efficiency against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus under visible light irradiation(>420 nm).Impressively,the Fe-ZnOPN could show practical disinfection ability in different water resources and multiple reuse ability.The mechanism study revealed that excellent photocatalytic disinfection performance of Fe-ZnOPN correlated with the in situ generated active oxidative substances,destruction of bacterial biofilm and resulting nucleic acids leakage,thereby causing irreversible physical damage.This study provided a new reference for designing environmentally friendly photocatalytic sterilization materials and disinfectants,which can be used in the practical disinfection of drinking water.