Boosted photocatalytic performance of uniform hetero-nanostructures of Bi2WO6/CdS and Bi2WO6/ZnS for aerobic selective alcohol oxidation

A two-dimensional hierarchical structural photocatalyst based on Bi2WO6 was obtained via a hydrothermal method and modified using ZnS and CdS and characterized by physico-chemical techniques XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDAX, and DRS. Their photocatalytic performance toward aerobic oxidation of primary alcohols was performed under incident visible light. In optimal condition, the photocatalytic conversion by modified Bi2WO6 was boosted from 25 to 68% in comparison to bare Bi2WO6 while in all cases the selectivities were as high as 99%. This such high photocatalytic activity was confirmed by PEC and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy studies which are related to the improvement of charge recombination and potential energy levels of photogenerated electrons-holes pairs. A plausible mechanism was suggested using a series of scavengers during photocatalytic oxidation reactions. Also, this heterogeneous photocatalyst was reused and recovered several times without loss photocatalytic activity. So, these series of catalysts were synthesized using the green and facial method in water solvent with significant advantages of high photocatalytic reactivity in presence O-2 as oxidant upon incident visible light.