Enhanced photocatalytic performance for ethyl mercaptan by CoO/HTi₂NbO₇-NS p-n heterojunction nanocomposites

Abstract

CoO/HTi₂NbO₇-NS nanocomposite was constructed via the composite procedure of HTi₂NbO₇ nanosheet (HTi₂NbO₇-NS) and cobalt oxide nanoparticles (CoO-NPs) by a hydrothermal method. The as-prepared samples were characterized by XRD, HRTEM, EDS, LRS, XPS, and UV-Vis DRS. The adsorption and photocatalytic performances of the as-prepared samples were evaluated using ethyl mercaptan (EM) in methane gas as the model pollutant. Results indicated that CoO-NPs were uniformly distributed on the surface of HTi₂NbO₇-NS. The interfacial p-n heterojunction was formed. The spectral absorption edge of CoO/HTi₂NbO₇-NS was significantly red-shifted and the band gap was narrowed compared with HTi₂NbO₇-NS due to the interaction. The results also shown that CoO/HTi₂NbO₇-NS has the largest adsorption capacity for EM at 340.5 μmol g⁻¹ and the strongest photocatalytic oxidation performance, the EM could be photocatalytic oxidized to sulfoxide. The present work indicated that the p-n heterojunction material of the CoO/HTi₂NbO₇-NS was promising for mercaptans adsorption and degradation.

Keywords:

• HTi₂NbO₇-NS
• CoO-NPs
• p-n heterojunction
• ethyl mercaptan
• photocatalytic oxidation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation [grant no. 2008085QE194], the Key Project of Collegiate Natural Science Fund of Anhui Province [grant no. KJ2018A0089] and Funded by Research Foundation of the Institute of Environment-friendly Materials and Occupational Health of Anhui University of Science and Technology (Wuhu) [grant nos. ALW2020YF01 and ALW2020YF09].