Hydrothermal Synthesis of the CuWO4/ZnO Composites with Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance

Caiying Chen; Wanying Bi; Zilong Xia; Wenhui Yuan; Li Li

doi:10.1021/acsomega.0c01220

Hydrothermal Synthesis of the CuWO₄/ZnO Composites with Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance

ACS Omega. 2020 May 27;5(22):13185-13195. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.0c01220. eCollection 2020 Jun 9.

Authors

Caiying Chen¹, Wanying Bi¹, Zilong Xia², Wenhui Yuan¹, Li Li³

Affiliations

¹ Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Advanced Insulating Coating, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, Guangdong, China.
² Xiangyang Cigarette Factory, China Tobacco Hubei Industrial Company, Ltd., Xiangyang 441000, Hubei, China.
³ School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, Guangdong, China.

Abstract

Photocatalytic technology aiming to eliminate organic pollutants in water has been rapidly developed. In this work, we successfully synthesized CuWO₄/ZnO photocatalysts with different weight ratios of CuWO₄ through facile hydrothermal treatment. Crystal structures, forms, and optical properties of these as-prepared materials were investigated and analyzed. 3% CuWO₄/ZnO showed the optimum photodegradation efficiency toward methylene blue under the irradiation of simulated sunlight for 120 min, the degradation rate of which was 98.9%. The pseudo-first-order rate constant of 3% CuWO₄/ZnO was ∼11.3 and ∼3.5 times bigger than that of pristine CuWO₄ and ZnO, respectively. Furthermore, the material exhibited high stability and reusability after five consecutive photocatalytic tests. In addition, free radical capture experiments were conducted and the possible mechanism proposed explained that the synergistic effect between CuWO₄ and ZnO accelerates the photodegradation reaction. This work provides a feasible technical background for the efficient and sustainable utilization of photocatalysts in wastewater control.