In situ controllable growth of Cu7S4 nanosheets on copper mesh for catalysis: The synergistic effect of photocatalytic Fenton-like process

In photocatalytic degradation fields, the flexible photocatalyst is considered as an appealing alternative to powders photocatalyst due to its environmental-friendly features and easily recyclable. In this work, in situ growth of Cu7S4 nanosheets are elaborately designed via a facile anodisation technique to form large-sized and uniform nanosheets on flexible copper mesh. The morphology of Cu7S4 nanosheets on copper mesh (Cu mesh/ Cu7S4) can be easily adjusted by the controllable crystal seed layer. The methylene blue (MB) is degraded with synergistic effect of photocatalytic Fenton-like reaction under simulated sunlight. Compared with conventional photocatalytic degradation, the photocatalytic Fenton-like degradation rate of MB have been can be improved 8.83 times and reached up to nearly 98.4% within 140 min. More importantly, the flexible Cu mesh/Cu7S4 catalyst films effectively avoids the secondary pollution caused by the powder catalyst. Due to its controllable morphology, large-sized, uniform, low-cost and easy recovery, the flexible Cu mesh/Cu7S4 films demonstrate great potential application as an efficient next generation photocatalysts candidate.

Automated summary

In this study, large-sized and uniform Cu7S4 nanosheets were grown in situ on flexible copper mesh via a controllable crystal seed layer. The Cu7S4 nanosheets exhibited excellent photocatalytic Fenton-like degradation performance under simulated sunlight, with the degradation rate of methylene blue improved by nearly 9 times and reaching a degradation efficiency of close to 98.4% within 140 minutes. The flexible Cu mesh/Cu7S4 catalyst films showed great potential as an efficient next generation photocatalyst candidate by avoiding secondary pollution caused by powder catalysts.