Visible light driven generation of dual active oxygen species on Zr-MOF/g-C3N4 photocatalyst for highly selective photocatalytic oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides

Abstract

The efficient synthesis of valuable compounds using visible light catalytic conversion method has great application prospects. Herein, Zr-MOF/g-C3N4 composite material was synthesized through a simple solvothermal method, which presented effective photocatalytic activity for oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides under visible light irradiation, higher than that of pure Zr-MOF and g-C3N4. This is attributed to the Zr-MOF/g-C3N4 composite exhibit wide visible-light absorption, large pore volume, and the promotion photogenerated carriers’ separation. Mechanism studies revealed that singlet oxygen (1O2) and superoxide radical (O2–) are the main active oxygen species in this photocatalytic process, which improve the photocatalytic conversion and selectivity of sulfides to sulfoxides. More importantly, this work will provide meaningful references for constructing catalysts that can be used for visible light catalytic synthesis of sulfoxides.