LAUSR

Abstract Nanostructured CuO/ZnO heterojunctions were fabricated via a template-free hydrothermal reaction. The prepared CuO/ZnO nanocomposites are composed of one dimensional (1D) hexagonal ZnO nanorods and two-dimensional (2D) monoclinic CuO nanosheets. The single crystal nature of both ZnO and CuO was confirmed. Optical spectra show the widened absorption range from UV to visible light, which suggests the potential of the obtained CuO/ZnO composites for visible-light-driven photocatalyst. The point defects at the interface play the leading role in triggering ferromagnetism of CuO/ZnO composites. Fundamentally, the ferromagnetism can be understood by the charge-transfer mechanism according to Stoner theory. The findings can give a further insight into the ferromagnetic origin of nonmagnetic composites and the integration of ferromagnetic and photocatalytic properties into an identical sample.