Hierarchical ZnO/Cu "corn-like" materials with high photodegradation and antibacterial capability under visible light.

A novel hierarchical ZnO/Cu "corn-like" material was successfully synthesized via facile low temperature hydrothermal and photo-deposition methods. This novel hierarchical material was well characterized by FESEM, XRD, EDS, UV-Vis. This novel material displayed high photodegradation and antibacterial capability under the irradiation of visible light. This is owing to its unique properties, including maximized light utilization rate via red-shifting the light absorption spectrum, enhanced specific surface area for mass transfer and reaction sites, and retarded recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes. Moreover, this novel hierarchical ZnO/Cu "corn-like" material demonstrated easy recovery from treated water for reuse. All these excellent properties indicate that this novel hierarchical ZnO/Cu "corn-like" material has a bright future in water purification applications.