Typical Organic Pollutants Research Articles

Application of synthetic biology in environmental remediation

Environmental problems are the most serious challenges in the 21st century. With the rapid development of modern industry and agriculture, ecological and environmental deterioration have become the most important factors to restrict the sustainable development of social economy. Microbial cells have strong ability for environmental remediation, but their evolution speed is slower than the speed of emerging pollutants. Therefore, the treatment using the synthetic biology is in urgent need. Full understanding of the microbial degradation characteristics (pathways) of refractory organic pollutants with the help of abundant microbial and gene resources in China is important. Using synthetic biology to redesign and transform the existing degrading strain will be used to degrade particular organic pollutants or multiple organic pollutants. For the complex pollutants, such as wastewater, based on the establishment of metabolic or regulation or resistance related gene modules of typical organic pollutants, artificial flora could be designed to solve the complex pollutants. The rational design and construction of engineering bacteria for typical environmental organic pollutants can effectively promote microbial catabolism of emerging contaminants, providing technical support for environmental remediation in China.

Efficient photocatalytic defluorination of perfluorooctanoic acid over BiOCl nanosheets via a hole direct oxidation mechanism

There remains a significant need for developing new photocatalytic system to degrade perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a typical persistent organic pollutant. In this study, highly efficient BiOCl nanosheets were prepared by a simple hydrolytic method and employed to decompose PFOA. The UV irradiation BiOCl system decomposed nearly all the added PFOA after 12h, yielding a defluorination of 59.3% and a minimization ratio of 52.5%. The photocatalytic defluorination rate constant of PFOA on BiOCl was 16.53μmolL−1h−1, being 1.7 and 14.6 times higher than that on commercial In2O3 and TiO2 (P25), respectively. It was demonstrated the photocatalytic degradation of PFOA on BiOCl mainly followed the direct hole-induced oxidative pathway, and the PFOA degradation was positively correlated with the amount of oxygen vacancies in BiOCl. The oxygen vacancies not only acted as the electron scavengers to suppress the charge recombination, but also favored to bind PFOA tightly on the BiOCl surface through a special monodentate coordination, which is beneficial for the hole oxidation of PFOA.

One-Step and Surfactant-Free Fabrication of Gold-Nanoparticle-Decorated Bismuth Oxychloride Nanosheets Based on Laser Ablation in Solution and Their Enhanced Visible-Light Plasmonic Photocatalysis.

A simple synthetic route is presented for fabricating gold nanoparticle (NP)-decorated bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) nanosheets in one step based on laser ablation of a gold target in a hydrochloric acid solution of bismuth nitrate without surfactant. After laser ablation, BiOCl nanosheets with attached Au NPs are obtained. The nanosheets are sub-micron in the planar dimension and around 20 nm thick, and the Au NPs are a mean size of approximately 20 nm. Further experiments reveal that such Au-NP-decorated nanosheets could be formed at a large Cl/Bi molar ratio range (0.01 to 3) in solution. The formation of the BiOCl nanosheets is attributed to the Au plasma plume-induced local fast hydrothermal reaction, which drives the planar growth of BiOCl. Importantly, these Au-NP-decorated BiOCl nanosheets exhibit high photodegradation activity on rhodamine B, a typical organic pollutant, compared with bare nanosheets under visible light irradiation, and show highly stable and recyclable performance. This is attributed to the plasmonic properties of Au NPs, which increase optical absorption and promote separation of electron-hole pairs in the NP-decorated BiOCl nanosheets. This work provides not only a new plasmonic photocatalyst for the oxidative degradation of organic pollutants, but also a general method for fabrication of the metal-NP-decorated nanosheets of other layer-structured oxychlorides.

A new way to discriminate polluted wood by vibrational spectroscopies

In this work, two sets of samples were considered: field samples collected from local waste wood and synthetic samples made by mixing clean wood (including oak, beech, poplar) with typical organic pollutants: creosote, polychlorinated byphenils (PCBs), pentachlorophenol (PCP), cypermethrin, dodecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride (DDAC). Vibrational spectroscopy techniques were tested to detect organic pollutants in wood items. Raman and infrared spectroscopies were showed as fast, non-destructive and non-invasive fingerprint techniques for detection of organic molecules. Associated with principal component analysis, we have shown the evidence of quick detection of and discrimination of polluted wood items by kinds and versus concentration.

Degradation of PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) in wastewater by advanced oxidation processes

AbstractAdvanced oxidation processes (AOPs) constitute a promising technology to treat wastewater containing organic pollutants that are not easily biodegradable. They have received increasing attention in the research and development of wastewater treatment technologies in recent decades for their removal or degradation of recalcitrant pollutants or as pretreatments to convert pollutants into smaller compounds, which can be treated using conventional biological methods. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is a typical refractory organic pollutant. It has received special attention due to its low biodegradability and the large amount of PVA-containing wastewater discharged from textile and paper mills. This review focuses on PVA removal and PVA wastewater pretreatment by AOPs, which include ozonation, Fenton oxidation, persulfate oxidation, ultrasound cavitation, ionizing radiation, photocatalytic oxidation, wet air oxidation and electrochemical oxidation. The mechanistic degradation pathways of PVA by AOPs are also discussed. In addition, a new classification of AOPs is applied for PVA treatment.

Recent Overview of Solar Photocatalysis and Solar Photo-Fenton Processes for Wastewater Treatment

This literature research, although not exhaustive, gives perspective to solar-driven photocatalysis, such as solar photo-Fenton and TiO2 solar photocatalysis, reported in the literature for the degradation of aqueous organic pollutants. Parameters that influence the degradation and mineralization of organics like catalyst preparation, type and load of catalyst, catalyst phase, pH, applied potential, and type of organic pollutant are addressed. Such parameters may also affect the photoactivity of the catalysts used in the studied solar processes. Solar irradiation is a renewable, abundant, and pollution-free energy source for low-cost commercial applications. Therefore, these solar processes represent an environmentally friendly alternative mainly because the use of electricity can be decreased/avoided.

Preparation and Study on Photocatalytic Activity of N-doped TiO2 Decorated N-doped graphene

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is generally considered to be one of the most promising photocatalysts in the purification of organic pollutants in air or water. To improve its performance, N-doped TiO2 samples decorated with N-doped graphene are prepareted via sol-gel method. The samples are characterized by XRD, XPS and SEM. The photocatalytic activity of the composite materials is evaluated by photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue aqueous solution, a typical organic pollutant. The experimental results are as follows: 1) the samples or the N-graphene/N-TiO2 composite materials have better degradation efficiency than TiO2 doped with N element; 2) Either too much or too little loading of graphene is not conducive to the photocatalytic efficiency of composite materials; 3) Temperature actually affects the optimal loading of graphene; 4) N-RGO (0.5wt%)/N-TiO2-400℃ has the highest photocatalytic efficiency and good stability.

Atmospheric oxidation of halogenated aromatics: comparative analysis of reaction mechanisms and reaction kinetics.

Atmospheric transport is the major route for global distribution of semi-volatile compounds such as halogenated aromatics as well as their major exposure route for humans. Their major atmospheric removal process is oxidation by hydroxyl radicals. There is very little information on the reaction mechanism or reaction-path dynamics of atmospheric degradation of halogenated benzenes. Furthermore, the measured reaction rate constants are missing for the range of environmentally relevant temperatures, i.e. 230-330 K. A series of recent theoretical studies have provided those valuable missing information for fluorobenzene, chlorobenzene, hexafluorobenzene and hexachlorobenzene. Their comparative analysis has provided additional and more general insight into the mechanism of those important tropospheric degradation processes as well as into the mobility, transport and atmospheric fate of halogenated aromatic systems. It was demonstrated for the first time that the addition of hydroxyl radicals to monohalogenated as well as to perhalogenated benzenes proceeds indirectly, via a prereaction complex and its formation and dynamics have been characterized including the respective transition-state. However, in fluorobenzene and chlorobenzene reactions hydroxyl radical hydrogen is pointing approximately to the center of the aromatic ring while in the case of hexafluorobenzene and hexachlorobenzene, unexpectedly, the oxygen is directed towards the center of the aromatic ring. The reliable rate constants are now available for all environmentally relevant temperatures for the tropospheric oxidation of fluorobenzene, chlorobenzene, hexafluorobenzene and hexachlorobenzene while pentachlorophenol, a well-known organic micropollutant, seems to be a major stable product of tropospheric oxidation of hexachlorobenzene. Their calculated tropospheric lifetimes show that fluorobenzene and chlorobenzene are easily removed from the atmosphere and do not have long-range transport potential while hexafluorobenzene seems to be a potential POP chemical and hexachlorobenzene is clearly a typical persistent organic pollutant.

Differential gene responses in the embryo of the green mussel Perna viridis exposed to dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT).

The green-lipped mussel, Perna viridis, is considered to be an ideal indicator for marine environmental pollution. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), a typical persistent organic pollutant, is extensively distributed in marine environments. However, little is known about the toxic effects of DDT on the embryo of marine animals, particularly in marine bivalves. Using next-generation sequencing technology, we studied P. viridis embryo after DDT stress at the transcriptome level. A total of 99 202 unigenes were obtained based on the 2383 bp of unigene N50. These differentially expressed genes (DEGs) participated in the various molecular pathways of biological effects, including oxidative stress, detoxification, innate immunity and neurobehavioral disease. Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to verify the mRNA expression of several genes identified by differential gene expression (DGE) analysis. The results indicated that DDT was in induced a dose-dependent manner in the embryo of P. viridis, and most genes involved in oxidative stress and detoxification were up-regulated by DDT exposure; however, the immunity-related genes were down-regulated, except the genes involved in phagocytosis. Gene expression changes in embryo from P. viridis provide a preliminary basis to better understand the molecular toxic response mechanisms of embryo to DDT.

Prediction of the adsorption capacities for four typical organic pollutants on activated carbons in natural waters

A new model is developed to predict the competitive adsorption isotherms of atrazine, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB) and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol onto activated carbons (ACs) in natural water. Based on the Polanyi-Dubinin (PD) equation, with the limiting pore volume of adsorbent estimated from the pore size distribution data, and the Ideal adsorbed solution theory - equivalent background compound (IAST-EBC) model approximation, the model takes into account both the properties of ACs and the impact of natural organic matters in water. Only one set of isotherm in deionized water and one set in natural water are needed to obtain the parameters for the prediction of adsorption isotherms onto different ACs in natural water. The model was employed for the predictions of adsorption capacities for atrazine, MTBE, 2-MIB and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol onto 14 ACs in 22 synthetic and natural waters reported in 9 references, with errors between 14.9% and 44.5% SDEV only. The results suggest that in the proposed PD-IAST-EBC approach, prediction of adsorption capacity for organic compounds onto different ACs in the same natural water is feasible, if the ACs are thermally activated with known pore size information. The model may provide a simple approach for the prediction of adsorption of organic compounds in natural water, and thus greatly reduces the effort required for water utilities when change of AC is needed.

Enantioselectivity in Environmental Safety and Metabolism of Typical Chiral Organic Pollutants.

Understanding the enantioselectivity is critical for the assessment of environmental behavior and toxicological effect, as well as the ecological risk. As chirality is an important consideration in green chemistry, recent studies demonstrated that enantioselectivity of typical chiral organic pollutants, especially for chiral pesticides, exists in most processes such as aquatic toxicity and degradation. However, to further clarify the metabolism mechanism of enantioselectivity, especially when catalyzed by cytochrome P450 enzymes, development of computational methods is of great importance in this field. In this article, we reviewed many outstanding achievements around the hot field and prosperous direction for the development of chiral compounds in computational analysis. A promising combination of theoretical methods, named hybrid quantum mechanical- molecular mechanics (QM/MM), will potentially make a significant contribution to metabolism mechanism of enantioselectivity by P450s. The main body was divided into two parts, we first clarified the enantioselectivity of chiral pollutants and environmental safety with twenty-two studies, and the remaining (twenty-one) were about cytochromes P450-mediated metabolism of typical chiral compounds. Furthermore, we enumerated a series of theoretical method for cytochromes P450-mediated metabolism with sixteen essays. This review illustrates the importance of the enantioselective in environmental safety, and then discussed the enantioselectivity of interactions mechanism with cytochromes P450 metabolic. Finally theoretical calculations became available and enabled various hypotheses to be tested and new solutions to be offered, especially for QM/MM methods. The review emphasized importance of the enantioselectivity of typical chiral organic pollutants exists in many biological processes (such as toxicity and environmental degradation), and discusses the development of computational methods to clarify the mechanism of enantioselectivie metabolism of chiral pollutants which catalyzed by cytochrome P450 enzymes.

Heterogeneous activation of peroxymonosulfate by amorphous boron for degradation of bisphenol S

Recently, tremendous efforts have been devoted to developing carbon-based metal-free catalysts as an alternative to metal-based catalysts for remediation of emerging contaminants. However, further investigations have demonstrated that the durability of carbocatalysts is poor. Therefore, it is extremely desirable to seek a novel metal-free catalyst with high efficiency and superb stability. Herein, we first discovered that amorphous boron (A-boron) can be used as a metal-free catalyst for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation to produce free radicals for effective degradation of bisphenol S (BPS), which is a newly-occurring estrogenic endocrine-disrupting chemical. It exhibited outstanding catalytic activity and superior stability as comparing to metal-based and metal-free carbon-based catalysts. Moreover, many other typical organic pollutants in water such as bisphenol F, sulfamethoxazole, rhodamine B and methyl orange can also be effectively decomposed in A-boron/PMS oxidative system. The effects of reaction parameters on BPS degradation were systematically investigated. The catalytic oxidation mechanism was proposed. The intriguing catalytic feature of A-boron discovered in this study will provide new opportunities for the future development of A-boron based materials with promising applications in water remediation.

Tetrabromobisphenol A photoelectrocatalytic degradation using reduced graphene oxide and cerium dioxide comodified TiO2 nanotube arrays as electrode under visible light

Tetrabromobisphenol A, one of the most important brominated retardants, is an typical persistent organic pollutant and it is of great value to develop rapid and effective degradation method. Present study established a photoelectrodegradation method with CeO2 and reduced graphene oxide co-modified TiO2 nanotube arrays (RGO-CeO2-TiO2 NAs), which were successfully synthesized and characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X Ray Spectrometry (EDX). The SEM Images revealed that the nanotubes had a diameter of about 100 nm and an obvious layer of CeO2 and RGO on the surface of TiO2 nanotube arrays. The EDX data exhibited the presence of Ce element. The results demonstrated that TBBPA was degraded at a high degradation rate constant of 0.0191 min−1, and photogenerated holes played a major role in the degradation reaction. Significant decrease of degradation efficiency was achieved with the presence of EDTA-2Na(hole scavenger), yet while the existence of t-BuOH(OH scavenger) resulted in less inhibition on the degradation. Besides, RGO-CeO2-TiO2 NAs exhibited good stability with rarely decline of degradation efficiency for ten reused runs. All these indicated that RGO-CeO2-TiO2 NAs were a good catalyst with extraordinary catalytic activity and stability for PEC degradation, and would have great potential in the control and removal of pollutants.

Adsorption Behavior of p-hydroxy Biphenyl onto Sediment of the Yellow River in Lanzhou

In order to study the adsorption behavior of organic pollutants in sediment of the Yellow River in Lanzhou, p-hydroxy biphenyl (PHB) was selected as the typical organic pollutants to understand the adsorption kinetics and thermodynamics of PHB onto sediment of the Yellow River in Lanzhou based on the batch experiments. Meanwhile, the effects of systemic temperature, such as the particle size, the initial concentration of PHB, pH value, and the ionic strength, were also investigated for the adsorption of PHB onto sediment of the Yellow River. The results indicated that the adsorption kinetics of PHB onto sediment of the Yellow River could be better described by Pseudo-second-order model, and the boundary layer and intraparticle diffusion were both involved in the adsorption kinetic process. The adsorption thermodynamics of PHB onto sediment of the Yellow River were fitted well with the Langmuir model(R2>0.974), which was a single molecular layer adsorption process. The average adsorption free energy E ranged from 0.913 to 1.00 kJ·mol-1 when the systemic temperatures increased from 25℃ to 45℃, suggesting a physical adsorption. Thermodynamic parameter analysis indicated that Gibbs free energy (ΔGθ) and Entropy (ΔHθ) were less than zero, but Enthalpy (ΔSθ) was more than zero in the adsorption process, which tended to prove the spontaneous nature of the adsorption process, the endothermic nature of the adsorption process and the increased randomness at the sediment surface. Furthermore, the smaller the particle size, the greater the adsorption capacity of the PHB. The adsorption capacity was increased with the increase of the initial concentration of PHB. When the pH value in a range of 4.23 to 7.00, the adsorption capacity of PHB showed a slow decreasing trend, while the decreasing was sharp when pH value was greater than 7.00, and the adsorption capacity was almost zero when pH value was about 10.3. With the increase of ionic strength, the adsorption amount of PHB was also increased, but when the ionic strength increased to a certain value, due to the competitive adsorption, the adsorption of PHB onto sediments would be inhibited, resulting in decreased amount of adsorption.

Comparative developmental toxicity of eight typical organic pollutants to red sea bream (Pagrosomus major) embryos and larvae

The red sea bream (Pagrosomus major) 48-h embryo-larval bioassay was used to assess and compare the developmental toxicities of eight typical organic pollutants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organophosphorus pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and alkylphenol. Toxicological endpoints such as survival rates of P. major embryos or larvae and the rates of hatching and of malformation (oedema, condensed blood, spinal curvatures or eye abnormalities) were noted and described within 48h of exposure. The LC50, EC50, no-observed-effect concentration (NOEC) and lowest-observed-effect concentration (LOEC) were calculated, based on the dose-response relationship. The results showed that exposures to all of the selected organic pollutants except for methyl parathion produced acute toxic effects on P. major embryos and larvae, at different levels of exposure. The levels of acute toxicity of the eight typical organic pollutants for P. major embryos and larvae showed the following trend: benzo(a)pyrene > malathion > PCB 126 > pyrene > nonylphenol > phenanthrene > monocrotophos > methyl parathion. However, the larvae were more sensitive to these pollutants than embryos, according to the calculated LC50, EC50, NOEC and LOEC. This increased sensitivity of larvae could have resulted from losing the natural barrier function of the egg shell membrane. Benzo(a)pyrene, malathion, nonylphenol and monocrotophos delayed the development of P. major for both embryos and larvae, and decreased the hatching rate of the embryos. These results implied that the development of fish embryos and larvae could serve as potential biomarkers for evaluating organic contamination in the aquatic environment. The marine economic fish P. major was more sensitive to PAHs than the model fish, marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma). The estimated safe concentrations (SCs) for marine economic fish, as determined in our research, could provide a reference for the formulation of water quality criteria.

Heterogeneous activation of H2O2 by defect-engineered TiO2 − x single crystals for refractory pollutants degradation: A Fenton-like mechanism

The heterogeneous catalyst plays a key role in Fenton-like reaction for advanced oxidation of refractory pollutants in water treatment. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a typical semiconductor with high industrial importance due to its earth abundance, low cost and no toxicity. In this work, it is found that TiO2 can heterogeneously activate hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, E°=1.78eV), a common chemical oxidant, to efficiently generate highly-powerful hydroxyl radical, OH (E0=2.80eV), for advanced water treatment, when its crystal shape, exposed facet and oxygen-stoichiometry are finely tuned. The defect-engineered TiO2 single crystals exposed by high-energy {001} facets exhibited an excellent Fenton-like activity and stability for degrading typical refractory organic pollutants such as methyl orange and p-nitrophenol. Its defect-centered Fenton-like superiority is mainly attributed to the crystal oxygen-vacancy, single-crystalline structure and exposed polar {001} facet. Our findings could provide new chance to utilize TiO2 for Fenton-like technology, and develop novel heterogeneous catalyst for advanced water treatment.

Two-Dimensional Composite Biomimetic Films with Wide Optical Spectrum Response and their Properties

Since graphene was discovered, the biomimetic materials with laminated structure (such as, shellfish) had become one of the research-hot fields. Chitosan comes from shellfish, and was considered as a very promising abundant natural biopolymer. It holds not only outstanding mechanical properties, film-forming technology and low cost, but also has good applications in environmental fields due to its excellent adsorption properties to a broad range of organic pollutants and some heavy metal ions. Preparation of biomimetic materials with laminated structure utilizing chitosan have many advantages, however, to improve functional properties of chitosan based biomimetic materials is still a great challenge. Graphene has various applications, including storage energy devices, hydrogen production with photo-catalysts, and environmental fields because of its high charge mobility and good mechanical properties. However, graphene and its oxide have difficult re-dispersion properties in fabrication of nanocomposite. In this paper, the nanosheets stacking of metal oxide and grapheme oxide with aid of chitosan was carried out. Several characterizations were examined by SEM (scanning electron microscopy), XRD (X-ray diffraction), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), and Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra. Photocatalytic tests were examined by selecting typical organic pollutants. The photoconductivity response of nanocomposite film to visible light and 808 nm laser with low-power were investigated based on interdigital electrodes of Au on flexible PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film substrate. The results indicated that the organic-inorganic film not only had wide visible light and NIR (near-infrared) responses, but also had good removal ability to organic pollutants. The nanocomposite film also exhibited clearly photo-response to visible light and 808 nm laser. It would be potential good applications in self-cleaning film, nanocoating, et al.

Surface Modification of Low-Dimensional Heterostructured Functional Materials with Dendrimers and their Properties of Organic-Inorganic Nanocomposites

Low-dimensional heterostructured functional materials have been widely applied in new energy materials, catalysts, et al. However, to enhance photo-response in visible light and the biocompatibility improvement are still the great challenges faced. And the dendrimers act good roles in transferring the drug and gene, and has good biocompatibility. Self-assembly on the surface of low-dimensional heterostructured functional materials with dendrimers holding-COOH groups was carried out in this paper. The characterizations of the materials were examined by SEM (scanning electron microscopy), XRD (X-ray diffraction), the Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) and so on. The photoconductivity response to visible light and 808 nm laser with low-power were studied based on interdigital electrodes of Au on flexible PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film substrate. The results indicated that ZnO/CuS modified with dendrimers showed good photo-response to visible light and 808 nm laser, the photo-response properties enhanced greatly by adding some small amount of grapheme oxide. Photocatalytic efficiency was examined by selecting typical organic pollutants, some good results were obtained. The external stimuli driven nanorobots for removal the organic pollutants or toxins in the living body have been developed.

Electrically accelerated removal of organic pollutants by a three‐dimensional graphene aerogel

Fast and effective methods for the removal of pollutants are crucial for the development of new sustainable water treatment technologies. In this work, we have reported the electrically accelerated removal of some typical organic pollutants by a three‐dimensional graphene aerogel (3DG). The porous 3DG was fabricated by chemical reduction of graphene oxide. The morphology and structure of 3DG were characterized by microscopic and spectroscopic approaches. The experiments indicated that 3DG‐based electrosorption could accelerate the removal of positively and negatively charged pollutants, such as Acid Red 88, Orange II, and Methylene Blue, as well as enhance the maximum adsorption capacity toward these contaminants. The interaction mechanisms between these organic pollutants and 3DG surface were further elucidated by Dispersion corrected Density Functional Theory (DFT‐D) calculations. This 3DG‐based system offers a potentially effective method for the rapid removal of organic pollutants and provides a new sustainable approach for water and wastewater treatment. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 2154–2162, 2016

Degradation of refractory pollutants under solar light irradiation by a robust and self-protected ZnO/CdS/TiO2 hybrid photocatalyst

Photocatalyst plays a vital role in the photochemical water treatment. To improve the visible-light photoactivity of TiO2 for refractory pollutant degradation, CdS/TiO2 hybrids with different nanostructures have been prepared, but usually suffer from a low photocatalytic degradation efficiency and a rapid photocorrosion. In this work, we developed a synergistic ZnO/CdS/TiO2 hybrid, which could act as a robust and self-protected photocatalyst for water purification without additional sacrificial reagents. This was attributed to the two different junction mechanisms in one single hybrid. Photons were selectively adsorbed by ZnO and CdS, then, the electrons with a low reductive activity in ZnO recombined directly with the holes with a low oxidative activity in CdS, whereas the holes with a high oxidative activity in ZnO and the electrons with a high reductive activity in CdS were captured for catalytic reaction. The superiority of the novel ZnO/CdS/TiO2 hybrid over the traditional CdS/TiO2 hybrid in both photocatalytic activity and anti-photocorrosion capacity was demonstrated in the degradation of Atrazine and Rhodamine B, two typical refractory organic pollutants, and the treatment of real textile wastewater under solar light irradiation. The developed ZnO/CdS/TiO2 hybrid exhibited an excellent potential for the degradation of refractory pollutants, and provided a new way to advance intrinsically solar-susceptible catalyst for photochemical wastewater treatment.