Understanding Bridging Sites and Accelerating Quantum Efficiency for Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction.

We report a novel double-shelled nanoboxes photocatalyst architecture with tailored interfaces that accelerate quantum efficiency for photocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) via Mo-S bridging bonds sites in Sv-In2S3@2H-MoTe2. The X-ray absorption near-edge structure shows that the formation of Sv-In2S3@2H-MoTe2 adjusts the coordination environment via interface engineering and forms Mo-S polarized sites at the interface. The interfacial dynamics and catalytic behavior are clearly revealed by ultrafast femtosecond transient absorption, time-resolved, and in situ diffuse reflectance-Infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy. A tunable electronic structure through steric interaction of Mo-S bridging bonds induces a 1.7-fold enhancement in Sv-In2S3@2H-MoTe2(5) photogenerated carrier concentration relative to pristine Sv-In2S3. Benefiting from lower carrier transport activation energy, an internal quantum efficiency of 94.01% at 380 nm was used for photocatalytic CO2RR. This study proposes a new strategy to design photocatalyst through bridging sites to adjust the selectivity of photocatalytic CO2RR.

Three-dimensional graphene encapsulated Ag-ZnFe2O4 flower-like nanocomposites with enhanced photocatalytic degradation of enrofloxacin.

Three-dimensional (3D) Ag-ZnFe2O4-reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was successfully synthesized using a hydrothermal and photo-reduction method, and the morphological differences of the materials were observed. Their photocatalytic activity was evaluated by photocatalytic degradation of enrofloxacin (ENR) under visible-light irradiation. The results indicated that Ag-ZnFe2O4-rGO exhibited superior photocatalytic properties and good stability. In this research, the enhancement of photocatalytic performance is mainly attributed to the electron channelization ability of rGO, which traps the photoexcited electrons of ZnFe2O4 on its π framework, and reduces the electron-hole recombination rate. Moreover, the high surface area of 3D pompon mum flower-like ZnFe2O4 provides more reactive sites. In addition, free radical capture and ESR experiments as well as pathway analysis of degradation also confirmed that superoxide radicals (˙O2 -) and photo-generated holes from Ag-ZnFe2O4-rGO were the main active species in the degradation progress of ENR.