Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) own admirable potential due to their controllable composition and exchangeable interlayer anions. Herein, pyrenetetrasulfonic acid (PTS) intercalated ZnAl-LDHs (denoted as ZnAl-xPTS, x represents the amount of NaPTS in the starting material) are synthesized by a co-precipitation method, which display enhanced photocatalytic activity towards the hydroxylation of phenylboric acid to phenol. Various characterizations suggest that PTS plays significant roles in improving the photocatalytic activity: (1) PTS extends the light absorption from ultraviolet to visible light region; (2) the introduction of PTS upshifts the conduction band, which is feasible for the formation of O2∙-; (3) ZnAl-xPTS produces more free electrons under light irradiation, which leads to greatly improved activity. This study develops an alternative LDHs based photocatalyst for the production of phenol, which also provides an efficient strategy to improve the photocatalytic activity of LDHs.
Keywords: Layered double hydroxides; Photocatalytic synthesis of phenol; Pyrenetetrasulfonic acid intercalation; Reactive oxygen species.
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