Issue 6, 2024

Cooperative catalytic behavior of CoS and Bi2S3 nanoparticles on Zr:BiVO4 photoanodes for enhanced photoelectrochemical sulfite oxidation coupled with pharmaceutical pollution degradation

Abstract

Photoelectrocatalysis is a promising advancing technology that converts energy into electricity and purifies the environment. A photoelectrochemical (PEC) reaction that splits water and degrades pharmaceutical pollutants can be achieved using bismuth vanadate (BiVO4). The water oxidation dynamics of BiVO4 photoanodes are sluggish owing to poor charge separation. In this paper, we demonstrate that bismuth sulfide (Bi2S3) and cobalt sulfide (CoS) nanoparticles have a cooperative effect on Zr-doped BiVO4 electrodes (Zr:BiVO4) fabricated via PEC techniques. PEC water splitting results reveal that optimal Zr:BiVO4@Bi2S3–CoS films have a photocurrent response of 3.09 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V vs. the RHE, which is three times better than Zr:BiVO4 films. As a result of combining the above features, Zr:BiVO4@Bi2S3/CoS electrodes achieved 1.53% applied bias photon-to-current efficiency (ABPE), with a substantial reduction in photocurrent onset potential. Additionally, the composite photoanode demonstrated superior performance in the PEC degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) to previously reported photonanodes. In the PEC reaction, Zr:BiVO4@Bi2S3/CoS yielded the most efficient degradation of TCH (94%), which was six times more than Zr:BiVO4 and EC (55%). The present study presents a visible light-responsive, efficient, sustainable water-splitting technique for producing hydrogen and provides new insights into wastewater treatment.

Graphical abstract: Cooperative catalytic behavior of CoS and Bi2S3 nanoparticles on Zr:BiVO4 photoanodes for enhanced photoelectrochemical sulfite oxidation coupled with pharmaceutical pollution degradation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
07 jan 2024
Accepted
17 apr 2024
First published
18 apr 2024

Environ. Sci.: Nano, 2024,11, 2668-2682

Cooperative catalytic behavior of CoS and Bi2S3 nanoparticles on Zr:BiVO4 photoanodes for enhanced photoelectrochemical sulfite oxidation coupled with pharmaceutical pollution degradation

P. Arunachalam, M. N. Shaddad, M. S. Amer, A. M. Alsalman and J. Madhavan, Environ. Sci.: Nano, 2024, 11, 2668 DOI: 10.1039/D4EN00018H

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements