Electrochemically Grown Cadmium(II) Selenide Nanowires Coated by Au Nanoparticles: Photocatalytic Properties

The control of the nanoparticles coating on the semiconductor nanowires and the photocatalytic processes can help to understand the importance for the potential application of nanostructures as photocatalysts. Here, Au nanoparticles-coated CdSe nanowires were successfully grown on indium tin oxide conducting glass substrate using a rapid electrochemically technique. The field-emission scanning electron microscopy image indicates a high-density array of CdSe nanowires in vertical alignment with an average diameter of <40 nm. A weak Au diffraction peak appeared in X-ray diffraction which confirm Au nanoparticles were coated on CdSe nanowires. UV-vis absorption spectra show the maximum absorption of Au coated CdSe nanowires is at 380 nm. The CdSe and Au coated CdSe nanowires were irradiated with UV light of 365 nm and the results of the photodegradation of Rhodamine B dye (RhB) were obtained. The results show 93.2% of RhB dye is degraded using the Au-coated CdSe nanowires after UV irradiation during 150 min, and the degradation rate of Au-CdSe nanowires is obtained to be 0.014 min(-1).