Construction of Cu7 S4 @CuCo2 O4 Yolk-Shell Microspheres Composite and Elucidation of Its Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity, Mechanism, and Pathway for Carbamazepine Degradation

He Z 1 , Yang H 1 , Wong NH 2 , Ernawati L 3 , Sunarso J 2 , Huang Z 4 Show all authors , Xia Y 5 , Wang Y 6 , Su J 7 , Fu X 5 , Wu M 1

Affiliations 

  • 1 Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, P. R. China
  • 2 Research Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Jalan Simpang Tiga, Kuching, Sarawak, 93350, Malaysia
  • 3 Department of Chemical Engineering, Institut Teknologi Kalimantan, Balikpapan, 76127, Indonesia
  • 4 Huaide School, Changzhou University, Jingjiang, 214500, P. R. China
  • 5 School of Materials and Engineering, Jiangsu University of Technology, Changzhou, 213001, P. R. China
  • 6 School of Pharmaceutical and Materials Engineering, Taizhou University, Jiaojiang, 318000, P. R. China
  • 7 School of Microelectronics and Control Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, P. R. China
Small, 2023 Feb 10.
PMID: 36765447 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202207370

Abstract

Water pollution caused by the massive use of medicines has caused significant environmental problems. This work first reports the synthesis and characterization of the Cu7 S4 /CuCo2 O4 (CS/CCO) yolk-shell microspheres via hydrothermal and annealing methods, and then investigates their photocatalytic performance in removing organic water pollutants. The 10-CS/CCO composite with yolk-shell microspheres exhibits the highest photodegradation rate of carbamazepine (CBZ), reaching 96.3% within 2 h. The 10-CS/CCO also demonstrates more than two times higher photodegradation rates than the pure (Cu7 S4 ) CS and (CuCo2 O4 ) CCO. This outstanding photocatalytic performance can be attributed to the unique yolk-shell structure and the Z-scheme charge transfer pathway, reducing multiple reflections of the acting light. These factors enhance the light absorption efficiency and efficiently transfer photoexcited charge carriers. In-depth, photocatalytic degradation pathways of CBZ are systematically evaluated via the identification of degradation intermediates with Fukui index calculation. The insights gained from this work can serve as a guideline for developing low-cost and efficient Z-scheme photocatalyst composites with the yolk-shell structure.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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