Mechanistic insight into near-infrared light-driven Cu2O/WO2 Ohmic contact photothermal catalysts for high-efficiency antibiotic wastewater purification

Abstract

Near-infrared (NIR) light-induced photothermal effect is beneficial for accelerating catalytic processes; thus, it is imperative to develop novel photothermal catalysts for promoting practical application. Herein, we synthesized NIR-responsive Cu₂O/WO₂ Ohmic contact photothermal catalysts through a facile ethylene glycol-assisted liquid-phase reduction method. In this photothermal catalyst, a new-type NIR-responsive Cu₂O semiconductor is integrated with an NIR-responsive WO₂ semimetal component to form an Ohmic contact, which is more beneficial for simultaneously promoting photocharge separation and enhancing NIR light absorption for a high-efficiency photothermal effect. As expected, the Cu₂O/WO₂ composite displays higher NIR light-driven photothermal catalytic performance for tetracycline removal from wastewater. Various characterization methods and density functional theory calculations were performed to obtain in-depth mechanistic insights into the NIR light-driven Cu₂O/WO₂ Ohmic contact photothermal catalysts. Hopefully, this research could provide a useful guideline for researchers focusing on the photothermal engineering of new composite photocatalysts.