α-Fe2O3/Pt hybrid nanorings and their enhanced photocatalytic activities

In this paper, α-Fe2O3 nanorings were synthesized and used as a support to further synthesize hybrid Pt/α-Fe2O3 nanorings. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses clearly suggest that Pt nanoparticles are deposited on the surface of α-Fe2O3 nanorings in a well-dispersed state. This metal–semiconductor hybrid system is expected to show high photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of environmental pollutants. Because of the Schottky contact between semiconductor and metal particles, the holes prefer to localize in energetically lower semiconductor, whereas the electrons can move through the heterointerface. This interfacial charge transfer and separation facilitate the redox reactions, results in a high photocatalytic activity. In our case, the as obtained α-Fe2O3/Pt hybrids exhibit enhanced photocatalytic performance with a degradation rate of 86.7% for methyl orange, which is much higher than that of pure α-Fe2O3 (33.2%).