Facilistic preparation of zinc oxide nanoarrays on nickel foam via a one-step chemical bath method for photocatalysis

One-dimensional ZnO nanoarrays (ZnO NAs) were prepared on nickel foam using a one-step chemical bath deposition method. SEM and XRD confirmed the successful preparation of ZnO nanoarrays. TEM and Raman spectroscopy confirmed the preferential orientation of the ZnO nanorods along the (0 0 2) crystal plane. The Ni/ZnO NAs composites exhibited excellent photocatalytic degradation activity for ciprofloxacin (CIP) under UV light. UV–visible diffuse reflectance and transient photocurrent response characterization revealed that compared with ZnO nanorod powder, the Ni/ZnO NA composites increased the light absorption and reduced the complexation rate of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, thus improving the photocatalytic efficiency. In addition, the electron work functions of the two substances were calculated by using the crystal faces of Ni (1 1 1) and ZnO (0 0 2), and the calculation results confirmed the electron transfer paths. Electron transfer pathways further confirmed the possible reaction mechanism of Ni/ZnO NA degradation of CIP. Finally, Mott–Schottky tests were used to investigate the structure of the energy bands of the material and reveal its photocatalytic mechanism.