Perspectives on the highly selective oxidation of copper-mediated C3N4-BiVO4 organic-inorganic hybrid catalysts and the efficient generation of reactive oxygen species

Abstract

Singlet oxygen (1O2) is a kind of reactive oxygen species (ROS) with both oxidizability and selectivity. The construction of 1O2 is the key to improve the selectivity of various organic reactions. In this study, Cu/C3N4-BiVO4 (CCN-BVO) ternary system significantly improved the catalytic effect of selective oxidation of glycerol to prepare high value chemical dihydroxyacetone (DHA). At the same time, CCN-BVO also has a strong environmental catalytic effect, and the decomposition effect of liquid phase organic pollutants can reach more than 90 % within 2 h. The superior ROS production capacity of CCN-BVO, particularly its ability to produce 1O2, has been confirmed by electron spin resonance (ESR) and quenching experiments as the reason for its excellent catalytic effect. Electrochemical characterization and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) proved that Cu can be used as an intermediary to accelerate electron conduction, and can also effectively construct defects to improve oxygen absorption efficiency, thus effectively increasing ROS yield. This study also theoretically confirmed the reaction path of glycerol catalysis through DFT calculation, which provided a theoretical basis for the subsequent design of efficient catalytic materials.