WS2-intercalated Ti3C2Tx MXene/TiO2-stacked hybrid structure as an excellent sonophotocatalyst for tetracycline degradation and nitrogen fixation

Kugalur Shanmugam Ranjith; Seyed Majid Ghoreishian; Reddicherla Umapathi; Ganji Seeta Rama Raju; Hyun Uk Lee; Yun Suk Huh; Young-Kyu Han

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2023.106623

WS₂-intercalated Ti₃C₂T_x MXene/TiO₂-stacked hybrid structure as an excellent sonophotocatalyst for tetracycline degradation and nitrogen fixation

Ultrason Sonochem. 2023 Nov:100:106623. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2023.106623. Epub 2023 Oct 5.

Authors

Kugalur Shanmugam Ranjith¹, Seyed Majid Ghoreishian², Reddicherla Umapathi³, Ganji Seeta Rama Raju¹, Hyun Uk Lee⁴, Yun Suk Huh⁵, Young-Kyu Han⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Energy and Materials Engineering, Dongguk University-Seoul, Seoul 04620, South Korea.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
³ Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Nano Bio High-Tech Materials Research Center, Inha University, Incheon 22212, South Korea.
⁴ Division of Material Analysis and Research, Korea Basic Science Institute, Daejeon 34133, South Korea.
⁵ Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Nano Bio High-Tech Materials Research Center, Inha University, Incheon 22212, South Korea. Electronic address: yunsuk.huh@inha.ac.kr.
⁶ Department of Energy and Materials Engineering, Dongguk University-Seoul, Seoul 04620, South Korea. Electronic address: ykenergy@dongguk.edu.

Abstract

Designing a heterostructure nanoscale catalytic site to facilitate N₂ adsorption and photogenerated electron transfer would maximize the potential for photocatalytic activity and N₂ reduction reactions. Herein, we have explored the interfacial TiO₂ nanograins between the Ti₃C₂T_xMXene-WS₂ heterostructure and addressed the beneficial active sites to expand the effective charge transfer rate and promote sonophotocatalytic N₂ fixation. Benefiting from the interfacial contact and dual heterostructure interface maximizes the photogenerated carrier separation between WS₂ and MXene/TiO₂. The sonophotocatalytic activity of the MXene@TiO₂/WS₂ hybrid, which was assessed by examining the photoreduction of N₂ with ultrasonic irradiation, was much higher than that of either sonocatalytic and photocatalytic activity because of the synergistic sonocatalytic effect under photoirradiation. The Schottky junction between the MXene and TiO₂ on the hybrid MXene/TiO₂-WS₂ heterostructure resulted in the sonophotocatalytic performance through effective charge transfer, which is 1.47 and 1.24 times greater than MXene-WS₂ for nitrogen fixation and pollutant degradation, respectively. Under the sonophotocatalytic process, the MXene/TiO₂-WS₂ heterostructure exhibits a decomposition efficiency of 98.9 % over tetracycline in 90 min, which is 5.46, 1.73, and 1.10 times greater than those of sonolysis, sonocatalysis, and photocatalysis, respectively. The production rate of NH₃ on MXene/TiO₂-WS₂ reached 526 μmol g^-1h^-1, which is 3.17, 3.61, and 1.47 times higher than that of MXene, WS₂, and MXene-WS₂, respectively. The hybridized structure of MXene-WS₂ with interfacial surface oxidized TiO₂ nanograins minimizes the band potential and improves photocarrier use efficiency, contributing directly to the remarkable catalytic performance towards N₂ photo fixation under visible irradiation under ultrasonic irradiation. This report provides the strategic outcome for the mass carrier transfer rate and reveals a high conversion efficiency in the hybridized heterostructure.

Keywords: Interfacial contact; MXene; N(2) fixation; Sonophotocatalysis; Transition metal dichalcogenide.