Engineering highly dispersed AgI nanoparticles on hierarchical In2S3 hollow nanotube to construct Z-scheme heterojunction for efficient photodegradation of insecticide imidacloprid

• Published in: Journal of colloid and interface science Vol. 652; pp. 1367 - 1380
• Main Authors: Weng, Jushi, Chen, Jun, Xu, Yifei, Hu, Xinru, Guo, Chuangyun, Yang, Yang, Sun, Jingyi, Fu, Lianshe, Wang, Qing, Wei, Jiamin, Yang, Tinghai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 15.12.2023
• Subjects: Active site; Imidacloprid; Intrinsic activity; Photodegradation; Z-scheme heterojunction; Photodegradation; Imidacloprid; Z-scheme heterojunction; Active site; Intrinsic activity
• ISSN: 0021-9797; 1095-7103
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.08.169

The highly dispersed AgI NPs on hierarchical In2S3 hollow nanotube and the construction of AgI/In2S3 Z-scheme heterojunction, which can not only increase active site exposure, but also improve its intrinsic activity. [Display omitted] •The In2S3/AgI Z-scheme heterojunction exhibits superior photodegradation activity for the decomposition of imidacloprid.•The highly dispersed AgI NPs on hierarchical In2S3 hollow nanotube increase active site exposure.•The construction of AgI/In2S3 Z-scheme heterojunction improve its intrinsic activity, facilitating excellent electron-hole pairs separation efficiency.•A possible photocatalytic mechanism and decomposition pathway of imidacloprid are speculated. Increasing the exposure of active sites and improving the intrinsic activity are necessary considerations for designing a highly efficient photocatalyst. Herein, an In2S3/AgI stable Z-scheme heterojunction with highly dispersed AgI nanoparticles (NPs) is synthesized by the mild self-templated and in-situ ion exchange strategy. Impressively, the optimized In2S3/AgI-300 Z-scheme heterojunction exhibits superior photodegradation activity (0.020 min−1) for the decomposition of insecticide imidacloprid (IMD), which is extremely higher than that of pure In2S3 (0.002 min−1) and AgI (0.013 min−1). Importantly, the three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (3D EEMs) fluorescence spectra, high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), the photoelectrochemical tests, radical trapping experiment, and electron spin resonance (ESR) technique are performed to clarify the possible degradation pathway and mechanism of IMD by the In2S3/AgI-300 composite. The enhanced photocatalytic performance is attributed to the highly dispersed AgI NPs on hierarchical In2S3 hollow nanotube and the construction of In2S3/AgI Z-scheme heterojunction, which can not only increase active site exposure, but also improve its intrinsic activity, facilitating rapid charge transfer rate and excellent electron-hole pairs separation efficiency. Meanwhile, the practical application potential of the In2S3/AgI-300 composite is systematically investigated. This study opens a new insight for designing catalysts with high photocatalytic performance through a convenient approach.