Z-scheme WO3/AgI heterojunction grown on flexible carbon fibers for efficient organic degradation and bacterial inactivation

Abstract

Z-scheme WO3/AgI heterojunctions on carbon fiber (CF) cloth were fabricated through in-situ hydrothermal method and chemical bath deposition route. The CF@WO3/AgI cloth achieved highly efficient photocatalytic abilities under visible light, which could eliminate 95.7 % of Rhodamine B (RhB) in 70 min and 70.0 % of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) in 110 min, superior to those of CF, CF@WO3 and CF@AgI cloths. Moreover, the catalyst was able to achieve 7.0 ± 0.16 log10 CFU/mL reduction of E. coli cells within 40 min. Recycling test confirmed the repeatability and stability of CF@WO3/AgI cloth. The enhanced photocatalytic performance was attributed to the increased visible light utilization, accelerated charge carriers separation and high photo-redox capabilities which came from the formation of Z-scheme heterojunction. This work provided inspiration for the construction of high-efficiency flexible photocatalysts for environmental decontamination.