WO3-x nanorods/rGO/AgBiS2 Z-scheme heterojunction with comprehensive spectrum response and enhanced Fenton and photocatalytic activities

Muhammad Abbas; Navid Hussain Shah; Mubashar Ilyas; Murtaza Mudasar; Ali Raza; M Ashfaq Ahmad; Yanyan Cui; Yaling Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2024.02.026

WO_3-x nanorods/rGO/AgBiS₂ Z-scheme heterojunction with comprehensive spectrum response and enhanced Fenton and photocatalytic activities

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2024 May 15:662:250-262. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.02.026. Epub 2024 Feb 10.

Authors

Muhammad Abbas¹, Navid Hussain Shah¹, Mubashar Ilyas², Murtaza Mudasar³, Ali Raza⁴, M Ashfaq Ahmad⁵, Yanyan Cui⁶, Yaling Wang⁷

Affiliations

¹ Beijing Engineering Research Center of Mixed Reality and Advanced Display, School of Optics and Photonics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China.
² Key Laboratory of Clusters Science of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry Beijing Institute of Technology Beijing 100081, China.
³ School of Material Science and Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China.
⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, Pakistan.
⁵ Department of Physics, COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus, Lahore, Pakistan. Electronic address: maahmad@cuilahore.edu.pk.
⁶ Beijing Engineering Research Center of Mixed Reality and Advanced Display, School of Optics and Photonics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China. Electronic address: cuiyanyan@bit.edu.cn.
⁷ CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology of China, Beijing 100190, China. Electronic address: wangyl@nanoctr.cn.

PMID: 38350348
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.02.026

Abstract

Tetracycline (TC) antibiotics and dyes are the prevalent water contaminants, and their removal from the water through photocatalysis is a plausible approach. However, most semiconductors in their pristine form need to be improved to be exploited in photocatalysis owing to poor photoresponse, intense carrier recombination, and inertness without irradiation. Herein, we demonstrate the modification of defective WO_3-x by rGO and AgBiS₂ in the form of WO_3-x/rGO/AgBiS₂ (R₂). It exploits the superior conductivity and synergism of rGO to inhibit carrier recombination; thereby, Z-scheme heterojunction with AgBiS₂ provides high redox potential. Defects in WO_3-x enable electron (e^-) storage in R₂, which decomposes H₂O₂ to generate ROS without irradiation. Owing to these essences and broad-spectrum response, it removed 93.72, 82.77, and 84.82% of TC during photo-Fenton (PFR), night-Fenton (NFR), and photocatalytic (PCR) reactions, respectively. Its removal rates reached 94.74, 81.54, and 87.50% against rhodamine B (RhB) during PFR, NFR, and PCR, respectively. It is superior to memory catalysis (MC) and conventional Fenton reactions (CFR) because it can perform without and with irradiation across a broader pH range. So, this work is conducive to designing WO_3-x-based catalysts to combat environmental and energy crises.

Keywords: AgBiS(2) photoactivity; Fenton reaction; Photocatalysis; TC; WO(3-x) photocatalyst; rGO.