Preparation and photocatalytic property of Fe₂O₃/ZnO composites with superhydrophobicity

A facile approach was developed to construct Fe₂O₃-modified ZnO micro/nanostructures with excellent superhydrophobicity and photocatalytic activities. The effects of stearic acid (SA) and Fe₂O₃ on the morphological characteristics, water contact angle (WCA), and photocatalytic degradation were investigated. Superhydrophobicity results showed that WCA increased from 144° ± 2° to 154° ± 2° when the weight of SA increased from 5 to 20 mg because of the formation of a hierarchical or rough structure. Furthermore, Fe₂O₃-modified ZnO micro/nanostructure surfaces before and after SA treatment (20 mg) were chosen to evaluate the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) dye under the support of visible light. MB degraded after 80 min of irradiation, and its photodegradation efficiencies were 91.5% at the superhydrophobic state and 92% at the hydrophilic state. This improvement in photocatalytic activity at both states might be attributed to an increase in surface area and improvement in charge carrier separation.