Photocatalytic Technology Research Articles

Shining a Light on Sewage Treatment: Building a High-Activity and Long-Lasting Photocatalytic Reactor with the Elegance of a “Kongming Lantern”

Photocatalysis is a promising technology for efficient sewage treatment, and designing a reactor with a stable loading technique is crucial for achieving long-term stability. However, there is a need to improve the current state of the art in both reactor design and loading techniques to ensure reliable and efficient performance. In this study, we propose an innovative solution by employing polydimethylsiloxane as a bonding layer on a substrate of 3D-printed polyacrylic resin. By means of mechanical extrusion, the active layer interacts with the bonding layer, ensuring a stable loading of the active layer onto the substrate. Simultaneously, 3D printing technology is utilized to construct a photocatalytic reactor resembling a “Kongming Lantern”, guaranteeing both high activity and durability. The reactor exhibited remarkable performance in degrading organic dyes and eliminating microbes and displayed a satisfactory purification effect on real water samples. Most significantly, it maintained its catalytic activity even after 50 weeks of cyclic degradation. This study contributes to the development of improved photocatalysis technologies for long-term sewage treatment applications.

Construction of floating photothermal-assisted S-scheme heterojunction with enhanced photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline: Insights into mechanisms, degradation pathways and toxicity assessment

Inspired by ecological floating beds to treat water pollution through photosynthesis, we employed a combination of calcination and hydrothermal methods to construct a photothermal-assisted photocatalysis system based on a floating monolithic porous mesh of g-C3N4 (MPMCN) loaded with the excellent photothermal material Bi2MoO6 (BMO), forming a BMO/MPMCN S-scheme heterojunction. This approach improved the utilization efficiency of solar light by BMO/MPMCN, minimized heat loss, and enhanced the overall temperature of the material during the reaction process, thereby accelerating interfacial electron transfer. The unique floating structure confers a larger specific surface area to BMO/MPMCN, providing more reaction sites for TC pollutants and efficiently removing TC contamination from water. BMO/MPMCN degradated 99.3% of TC after 90 min of photothermal reaction, and exhibited good recyclability and reusability. Structural and performance characterizations of the material were carried out using techniques such as XRD, TEM, electrochemical testing, and ESR. Furthermore, the corresponding band structure and S-scheme electron transfer mechanism of the BMO/MPMCN heterojunction were deduced through the combination of in-situ XPS and UPS. The possible degradation pathways of TC and the ecological toxicity changes of intermediate products were analyzed. Finally, a mechanistic model for the photothermal-assisted photocatalytic degradation of TC in water by the BMO/MPMCN S-scheme heterojunction was established, providing a novel approach for the practical application of photocatalysis technology.

Investigation on the performance of a solar multifunctional photovoltaic/thermal window combining photocatalytic oxidation technology

In response to the challenges of high energy consumption and poor indoor air quality, a novel solar multifunctional louver window has been proposed. This study developed a numerical model to examine the effects of environmental variables and louver angles on the thermal, electrical, and degradation performance of the system. Additionally, an exergy-based evaluative framework was introduced to account for the varying qualities of energy in assessing the performance of solar multifunctional windows. Finally, a comprehensive evaluation was conducted using this framework. The results demonstrate that the exergy efficiency of the solar multifunctional window can be maintained at 20 % or higher, even under reduced solar irradiation, delivering high-quality energy. Lower environmental temperatures and solar radiation intensities were found to negatively affect ventilation, thermal efficiency, and air purification capacity. The thermal, purification, and electrical efficiencies were influenced by the louver angle to varying extents. In terms of air purification, the window achieved the highest Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) at louver angles between 80° and 90°, thereby enhancing air purification performance.

Decorating nitrogen-deficient crystalline g-C3N4 with Ti3C2(OH)2 for photocatalytic CO2 reduction and RhB degradation enhancement

Visible light responding photocatalytic technology has shown great potential to mitigate the greenhouse effect and global pollution issues in recent years. Herein, alkalized titanium carbide Ti3C2Tx (TCOH) is combined with nitrogen-deficient g-C3N4 (CN-Nx) by simply mixing for photocatalytic CO2 reduction and RhB degradation. TCOH replaces noble metals as a co-catalyst for CN-Nx due to its full-spectrum absorption properties and excellent conductivity, which effectively enhances the overall light absorption capacity of CN-Nx. Additionally, a large Fermi energy level difference between TCOH and CN-Nx leads to a built-in electric field forming at their interface when combined. This built-in electric field can enhance the photogenerated electron-hole pair separation and reduce the recombination rate. So the visible light utilization ranges of optimized 2TCOH-30 %/CN-N0.02 expanded from 477 nm (CN-N0.02) to 481 nm, and the average lifetimes of the photogenerated carriers is 4.37 ns, which is 2.64 times longer than CN-N0.02. Moreover, the CO yield reaches 67.55 μmol/g during photocatalytic CO2 reduction of 2TCOH-30 %/CN-N0.02, which is 4.06 and 2.54 times than 2TCOH and CN-N0.02. During the RhB degradation, 2TCOH-30 %/CN-N0.02 can remove approximately 98.3 % of RhB in 15 min, which is1.6 and 1.4 times of 2TCOH and CN-N0.02. Also, 2TCOH-30 %/CN-N0.02 shows excellent stability, the photocatalytic capacity for CO2 reduction and RhB degradation has no significant degradation after six times circles.

Insight into the Structural and Performance Correlation of Photocatalytic TiO2/Cu Composite Films Prepared by Magnetron Sputtering Method

Photocatalysis technology, as an efficient and safe environmentally friendly purification technique, has garnered significant attention and interest. Traditional TiO2 photocatalytic materials still face limitations in practical applications, hindering their widespread adoption. The research prepared TiO2/Cu films with different Cu contents using a magnetron sputtering multi-target co-deposition technique. The incorporation of Cu significantly enhances the antibacterial properties and visible light response of the films. The effects of different Cu contents on the microstructure, surface morphology, wettability, antibacterial properties, and visible light response of the films were investigated using an X-ray diffractometer, X-ray photoelectron spectrometer, field emission scanning electron microscope, confocal laser scanning microscope, Ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometer, and contact angle goniometer. The results showed that the prepared TiO2/Cu films were mainly composed of the rutile TiO2 phase and face-center cubic Cu phase. The introduction of Cu affected the crystal orientation of TiO2 and refined the grain size of the films. With the increase in Cu content, the surface roughness of the films first decreased and then increased. The water contact angle of the films first increased and then decreased, and the film exhibited optimal hydrophobicity when the Cu target power was 10 W. The TiO2/Cu films showed good antibacterial properties against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The introduction of Cu shifted the absorption edge of the films to the red region, significantly narrowed the band gap width to 2.5 eV, and broadened the light response range of the films to the visible light region.

Synergistic Enhancements of Zn-ZIF with Nano Zinc Oxide for Hydrogen adsorption, energy storage, and photocatalytic technologies

Creating the porous Zinc-Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework (Zn-ZIF) using a solvothermal technique addresses the need for advanced materials with distinctive properties and cost-effectiveness in modern applications. The PXRD, SEM, UV-DRS, TEM, and TGA/DTG are used to characterize different concentrations of Zn-ZIF. Zn-ZIF's crystalline structure and phase purity have been verified by PXRD. Using diffuse reflectance spectra, the Kubelka-Monk function determined the band gaps of the Zn-ZIF samples, and scanning electron microscopy revealed a more porous structure. At 77 K and 1 bar, the Zn-ZIF solution with a 2:1 ratio had the highest hydrogen storage capacity (1.71 wt%). The electrochemical behavior of several Zn-ZIF electrodes in a 6 M KOH electrolyte was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) experiments. The Zn-ZIF electrode with a 2:1 ratio exhibits a low charge transfer resistance and a high proton diffusion coefficient (D) of 1.687 × 10−4 cm2 s−1. The characteristics of the 2:1 synthesized Zn-ZIF electrode as a supercapacitor were investigated. Our analysis of the generated Zn-ZIF material's specific capacitance values after 2000 cycles revealed an impressive retention rate of nearly 89 %, with values of 296.6 Fg-1. In addition, we examined the photocatalytic activities of the as-synthesized material by exposing it to ultraviolet light and seeing how it degraded organic dyes such as Cango-Red (CR) dye. With a photocatalytic efficacy of 95.06 % for CR dye, Zn-ZIF (2:1 ratio) is the most effective. These findings should provide new knowledge for researchers interested in developing novel Zn-ZIF materials for photocatalytic, energy storage, and hydrogen storage applications.

Recent Advances in Piezoelectric Coupled with Photocatalytic Reaction System: Synergistic Mechanism, Enhancement Factors, and Application.

The field of photocatalysis has demonstrated numerous advantages in the domains of environmental protection, energy, and materials science. However, conventional modification methods fail to simultaneously enhance carrier separation efficiency, redox capacity, and visible light absorption solely through light activation due to the intrinsic band structure limitations of photocatalysts. In addition to modification methods, the introduction of an external field, such as a piezoelectric field, can effectively address deficiencies in each step of the photocatalytic process and enhance the overall performance. The assistance of a piezoelectric field overcomes the limitations inherent in traditional photocatalytic systems. Hence, this review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advancements in piezoelectric-assisted photocatalysis and thoroughly investigates the interaction between the alternating piezoelectric field and photocatalytic processes. Various ideas for synergistic enhancement of the piezoelectric and photocatalytic properties are also explored. This multifield catalytic system shows remarkable performance in stability, pollutant degradation, and energy conversion, distinguishing it from single catalytic systems. Finally, an in-depth analysis is conducted to address the challenges and prospects associated with piezoelectric photocatalysis technology.

Simple synthesis of 2D/3D mpg-C3N4/ZnO nanocages with built-in driven Z-scheme heterostructures: Photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline antibiotics and lifting the limitation of the complex water environment

Tetracycline antibiotics have attracted attention due to their difficulty in being degraded by the natural environment. In this work, 2D/3D mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (mpg-C3N4)/ zinc oxide (ZnO) hollow nanocage (MCNZH) complexes with Z-scheme heterostructure were prepared for the photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline antibiotics. The catalysts were characterized by SEM, TEM, BET, XRD, FT-IR, EIS, etc. The degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (40 mg L–1) by MCNZH (1.2 g L–1) can reach 92.08 %. Further, the energy band structure of the catalysts were calculated and the possible degradation mechanism was proposed. The results showed that ·OH– and ·O2– were the main active species, and the internal electric field suppressed the compounding of photogenerated carriers. The catalysts exhibited broad-spectrum degradation of tetracycline antibiotics. Practical sample spiking experiments on soil and river water confirmed its practicability, which provide great significance for the application of the photocatalytic technology in the practical environmental purification.

Enhancing degradation of novel brominated flame retardants by sulfate modified C3N4: Synergistic effect of photocatalytic oxidation and reduction processes

Novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) pose serious risks to aquatic organisms and human health due to their persistence and toxicity. Herein, sulfate ions (SO42-) decorated C3N4 (SO42-@CN) photocatalyst material was synthesized for the rapid degradation of NBFRs by a synergistic effect of photocatalytic oxidation and reduction reactions. Compared with bare C3N4, the SO42-@CN exhibited efficient photocatalytic NBFRs removal performance. The degradation rates constant of hexabromobenzene and pentabromotoluene by SO42-@CN were 0.177 and 0.0906 min-1, respectively, which were 2.9 and 6.7 times higher than that by C3N4. It was confirmed that SO42-@CN could generate more active substances (such as sulfate radicals, and hydroxyl radicals) and promote the oxidation of NBFRs. Meanwhile, SO42- accelerated the separation of photogenerated electron-holes by promoting the formation of hydrogenated structures, allowing more photogenerated electrons to participate in the debromination reduction process. This work provides a new insight for the practical application of visible light driven photocatalytic technology in NBFRs residues degradation.

Efficient Charge Carriers Separation and Transfer Driven by Interface Electric Field in FeS2@ZnIn2S4 Heterojunction Boost Hydrogen Evolution.

Photocatalytic H2 evolution technology is regarded as a promising and green route for the urgent requirement of efficient H2 production. At present, low efficiency is a major bottleneck that limits the practical application of photocatalytic H2 evolution. The construction of high-activity photocatalysts is highly crucial for achieving advanced hydrogen generation. Herein, a new S-scheme FeS2@ZnIn2S4 (FeS2@ZIS) heterostructure as the photocatalyst was developed for enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution. Density function theory (DFT) calculation results strongly demonstrated that FeS2@ZIS generates a giant interface electric field (IEF), thus promoting the separation efficiency of photogenerated charge carriers for efficient visible-light-driven hydrogen evolution. At optimal conditions, the H2 production rate of the 8%FeS2@ZIS is 5.3 and 3.6 times higher than that of the pure FeS2 and ZIS, respectively. The experimental results further indicate that the close contact between FeS2 and ZIS promotes the formation of the S-scheme heterojunction, where the interfacial charge transfer achieves spatial separation of charge carriers. This further broadens the light absorption range of the FeS2@ZIS and improves the utilization rate of photogenerated charge carriers. This work thus offers new insights that the FeS2-based co-catalyst can enrich the research on S-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts and improve the transfer and separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers for photocatalytic hydrogen production.

Oxygen Vacancy Engineering and Constructing Built-In Electric Field in Fe-g-C3N4/Bi2MoO6 Z-Scheme Heterojunction for Boosting Photo-Fenton Catalytic Degradation Performance of Tetracycline.

A novel Fe-g-C3N4/Bi2MoO6 (FCNB) Z-scheme heterojunction enriched with oxygen vacancy is constructed and employed for the photo-Fenton degradation of tetracycline (TC). The 2% FCNB demonstrates prominent catalytic performance and mineralization efficiency for TC wastewater, showing activity of 8.20 times greater than that of pure photocatalytic technology. Density-functional theory (DFT) calculations and degradation experiments confirm that the formation of Fe-N4 sites induces spin-polarization in the material, and the difference in Fermi energy levels results in the formation of built-in electric field at the contact interface, which facilitates the continuous generation and migration of photogenerated carriers to address the issue of insufficient cycling power of Fe (III)/Fe (II).The reactive radicals persistently target the extremely reactive sites anticipated by the Fukui function, causing the mineralization of TC molecules into "non-toxic" compounds through processes of hydroxylation, demethylation, and deamidation. This work holds significant importance in the domain of eliminating organic pollutants from water.

A high-flux, photocatalytic wood-derived filter for high-efficiency water purification

Wastewater purification has evolved into a global problem in the face of increasing scarcity of freshwater resources. Photocatalysis technology possesses prominent advantages in treating pollutants in water because of its low cost and mild reaction conditions, which provides an effective way to treat multiple pollutants and reduce membrane fouling. Herein, we combine photocatalysis technology with filtration technology via in situ reduction Bi0 with Bi2SiO5 strategy incorporating a carbonized wood filter to synthesize carbon/Bi2SiO5@Bi bi-functional composite. Thus, simultaneous filtration and photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B and tetracycline were achieved. After filtrating for 30 min, the degradation rate of RhB and TC were 94.23 % and 81.39 %, respectively. Especially, the flux of RhB and TC were up to 2162.16 L m−2 h−1 and 1811.32 L m−2 h−1. In addition, the composite filter also has good recyclability and reusability, after 5 cycles, the degradation efficiency of RhB remains at 91 %. This study utilized photocatalytic technology combined with membrane filtration technology to successfully solve the contradiction between catalytic efficiency and water flux, which realized rapid and dynamic removal of organic pollutants from water. Besides, the use of carbonized wood-based materials provides a potential biomass technology for the preparation of bifunctional photocatalytic filters.

Emerging Catalytic Strategies Driven by External Field for Heavy Metal Remediation

Heavy metal pollution presents significant environmental and public health risks due to its widespread occurrence and resistance to degradation. There is a pressing need for innovative solutions to address the challenge of heavy metal ion removal from water resources. In this review, we highlight recent advancements in emerging catalytic strategies for efficient heavy metal remediation, leveraging various external fields such as electric, mechanical, magnetic, and thermoelectric fields, as well as their synergetic coupling with photocatalysis technology. These novel approaches offer promising avenues for enhancing heavy metal removal efficacy and environmental sustainability. In particular, this review focuses on recent breakthroughs in new materials systems capable of functioning under diverse external fields, heralding future advancements in heavy metal remediation. Finally, we discuss the current challenges and future perspectives in this emerging research area.

Thermally synthesized hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanoparticles as efficient photocatalyst for visible light dye degradation.

In recent years, water pollution has become a pressing global issue because of the continuous release of organic dyes from various industries. Therefore, finding an easy way to remove these harmful dyes from water has drawn the attention of researchers. This study investigates the removal of toxic Rose Bengal (RB) dye using hematite nanoparticles as a visible light photocatalyst without any additive. It is observed that by controlling particle size, quantity of the nanoparticles and reaction temperature, the dye degradation can be improved up to 95.33% with a half-life of 26 min. To understand photodegradation kinetic behavior, the Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic equation can be employed. The scavenger test indicated that the OH* radicals majorly led to the photodegradation process. The reaction rate values strongly depended on the size, quantity of the nanoparticles and reaction temperature. Controlling the optimizing condition, faster reaction rate (k = 0.027 min-1) can be achieved as compared to earlier reports. It is also noted that the change in the degradation efficiency of the reused catalyst is negligible when compared to the fresh one. Here, the dye degradation mechanism is discussed. Overall, this study reveals that hematite nanoparticles can be used as efficient photocatalyst for dye degradation applications by optimizing the controlling factors. These observations provide novel perspectives on the development of effective and sustainable photocatalytic technologies for pollution control and water treatment applications.

Anchoring gadolinium oxide nanoparticles onto CuInZnS: Efficient photocatalytic tetracycline degradation and mechanism analysis

Photocatalysis technology is one of the potential methods to remit the growing issues of environmental pollution. It is of great significance to rationally design high performance antibiotic wastewater degradation catalysts in the whole pH range. In this experiment, Gd2O3 nanoparticles (GdO NPs) were successfully grown onto CuInZnS (CIZS) by a simple hydrothermal method. The introduction of GdO has obvious effects on the nanosheet thickness of CIZS, which reduces carrier transport distances and improves the active sites number of CIZS. What’s more, the SO4•- absorption and electron transfer ability are also greatly optimized. Under 300 W Xe light, tetracycline can be efficient degraded more than 93 % in the whole pH range, which presents absolute advantage compared to CIZS and GdO. Based on the combination of experimental characterization and density functional theory calculations, the proposed photocatalytic tetracycline degradation pathway and mechanism have been given. Moreover, the results of toxicity analysis proved that the CIZS-GdO catalyst could successfully reduce the toxicity of tetracycline wastewater. This work has reference value for the application of rare earth oxides in the field of photocatalysis at full pH range.

In-situ construction of N-doped Zn0.6Cd0.4S/oxygen vacancy-rich WO3 Z-scheme heterojunction compound for boosting photocatalytic hydrogen production

Photocatalytic water splitting technology for H2 production represents a promising and sustainable approach to clean energy generation. In this study, a high concentration of oxygen vacancies was introduced into tungsten trioxide (WO3) to create a vacancy-rich layer. This modified WO3 (WO3-x) was then combined with N-doped Zn0.6Cd0.4S through a hydrothermal synthesis, resulting in the formation of a Z-scheme heterojunction composite aimed at enhancing photocatalytic performance. Under visible light, the H2 production activity of the composite reached an impressive 8.52 mmol·g−1 without adding co-catalyst Pt. This corresponds to enhancements of 7.82 and 4.39 times the production yield of pure ZCS and ZCSN, respectively. However, the hydrogen production increased to 21.98 mmol·g−1 when Pt was added as a co-catalyst. Furthermore, an array of characterizations were employed to elucidate the presence of oxygen vacancies and the establishment of the Z-scheme heterojunction. This structural enhancement significantly facilitates the utilization of photo-generated electrons while effectively preventing photo-corrosion of ZCSN, thus improving material stability. Our study provides a new scheme for the incorporation of oxygen-rich vacancy and the construction of Z-scheme heterojunction, demonstrating a synergistic effect that greatly advances photocatalytic performance.

Enhanced Photocatalytic Properties and Photoinduced Crystallization of TiO2-Fe2O3 Inverse Opals Fabricated by Atomic Layer Deposition.

The use of solar energy for photocatalysis holds great potential for sustainable pollution reduction. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a benchmark material, effective under ultraviolet light but limited in visible light utilization, restricting its application in solar-driven photocatalysis. Previous studies have shown that semiconductor heterojunctions and nanostructuring can broaden the TiO2's photocatalytic spectral range. Semiconductor heterojunctions are interfaces formed between two different semiconductor materials that can be engineered. Especially, type II heterojunctions facilitate charge separation, and they can be obtained by combining TiO2 with, for example, iron(III) oxide (Fe2O3). Nanostructuring in the form of 3D inverse opals (IOs) demonstrated increased TiO2 light absorption efficiency of the material, by tailoring light-matter interactions through their photonic crystal structure and specifically their photonic stopband, which can give rise to a slow photon effect. Such effect is hypothesized to enhance the generation of free charges. This work focuses on the above-described effects simultaneously, through the synthesis of TiO2-Fe2O3 IOs via multilayer atomic layer deposition (ALD) and the characterization of their photocatalytic activities. Our results reveal that the complete functionalization of TiO2 IOs with Fe2O3 increases the photocatalytic activity through the slow photon effect and semiconductor heterojunction formation. We systematically explore the influence of Fe2O3 thickness on photocatalytic performance, and a maximum photocatalytic rate constant of 1.38 ± 0.09 h-1 is observed for a 252 nm template TiO2-Fe2O3 bilayer IO consisting of 16 nm TiO2 and 2 nm Fe2O3. Further tailoring the performance by overcoating with additional TiO2 layers enhances photoinduced crystallization and tunes photocatalytic properties. These findings highlight the potential of TiO2-Fe2O3 IOs for efficient water pollutant removal and the importance of precise nanostructuring and heterojunction engineering in advancing photocatalytic technologies.

Effect of surfactant PEG on the property control of Bi2O3 and its photocatalytic activity

A detailed investigation into the effect of the poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) addition mass on the bismuth (III) oxide (Bi2O3) photocatalyst is limited but necessary. Bismuth (III) oxide/PEG photocatalysts with different morphologies were prepared with different PEG mass via the solvothermal method and characterized for phase, morphology, optical absorption properties, elemental composition and specific surface area. The results indicated that all bismuth (III) oxide photocatalysts with different additions (Bi2O3/PEG-m x ) were pure β-bismuth (III) oxide phases, comprising larger platelike and smaller particle-like particles. Enhanced photocatalytic activity was attributed to increased larger specific surface area with PEG below 10 g. With 12 g of PEG, the formation of surface pores on plate-like bismuth (III) oxide impoved light penetration and utilization. Bi2O3/PEGm12 exhibited optimal photocatalytic activity, achieving over 90% bisphenol A(BPA) degradation after 180 min at 0.6 g·L−1 under visible light. Bismuth (III) oxide /PEG-ty prepared below 140°C showed poor activity, while above 160°C, high activity was observed. Bismuth (III) oxide/PEG effectively mineralize over 80% of bisphenol A into inorganic molecules and water under the co-oxidation of superoxide radicals (·O2 −) and holes (h+). This is the first detailed research on the regulation and modification of β-bismuth (III) oxide by PEG, which may provide new insights into the photocatalytic technology.

Rational modulation of covalent organic frameworks heterogeneous catalyst: Structural cationization effect on accelerating photocatalytic oxidation process

Photocatalytic technology has been playing a key role in energy conversion and environmental remediation. It is critical and challenging that understanding and modulating the local structure effect on accelerating each rate-dependent step during the photocatalytic process. Herein, we utilize the highly ordered and structurally tunable COFs as a favorable platform for integrating multiple modulations of photochemical properties, including light capture, exciton dissociation, charge separation, and mass transfer by structural cationization strategy. Moreover, it is found that the cationized COF has a strong enrichment ability on the sulfide substrates, exhibiting an extremely fast selective oxidation rate of sulfides even in air. The calculation results indicate that the structural cationization successfully aggregates reaction substrates and increases the molecular collision probability, generating a reaction environment to promote the photocatalytic performances. This study will be expected to facilitate the new insights for the exploration of highly active COFs heterogeneous photocatalysts.

Study on lithium extraction from natural brine without additional energy consumption by photocatalytic technology

Extracting lithium from natural brine is the most efficient means to cater to the growing demand for lithium. The direct extraction of lithium from natural brine is a highly challenging process owing to the harsh natural conditions of most salt lakes. The high altitude, arid climate, and lack of energy greatly restrict the industrialization of lithium extraction from salt lakes. Therefore, lithium adsorption technology is combined with photocatalytic technology to investigate the natural brine lithium extraction method without additional energy consumption. In particular, we report an adsorbent that utilizes light for lithium adsorption in natural brine. Its unique lithium adsorption mechanism provides excellent lithium adsorption capacity and lithium selectivity in untreated natural brines, the adsorption capacity reached 32.17 mg/g for 24 h. Our findings provide a more economical and environmentally friendly strategy for the direct extraction of lithium directly from natural brines.