Electrospun nanofibers of ZnO/BaTiO ₃ heterostructures with enhanced photocatalytic activity

ZnO/BaTiO ₃ nanofiber heterostructures with highly uniformly dispersed ZnO nanoparticles grown on primary BaTiO ₃ nanofibers have been obtained by the combination of an electrospinning and a hydrothermal process. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize the ZnO/BaTiO ₃ nanofiber heterostructures. Furthermore, their UV-induced catalytic activities were studied by a degradation reaction of methyl orange (MO) dye. Compared with pure ZnO powders, ZnO/BaTiO ₃ nanofiber heterostructures showed better performance of the photocatalytic property, which was ascribed to the synergistic effects of photogenerated electron and hole pair separation and high specific surface area.