Visible and infrared light photocatalysis of Cr(VI) by CdTe nanoparticles

• Published in: Applied surface science 2023-04, Vol.615, p.156399, Article 156399
• Main Authors: Liu, Yuxin, Gao, Feixue, Liu, Shuya, Liu, Hangxi, Fang, Ming, Tan, Xiaoli
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: CdTe; Cr(VI); Infrared photocatalysis; Reduction
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2023.156399

[Display omitted] •CdTe nanoparticles were obtained by a hydrothermal method.•Cr(VI) is highly efficient photo reduced to Cr(III) under the visible and infrared irradiation.•e− and h+ and OH were involved in the photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI). The utilization of near-infrared (NIR) light may greatly enlarge the application range of irradiated light of a photocatalyst, which is still an issue needing to be solved. In this work, CdTe nanoparticles are firstly found to be endowed with the capacity to photo-reduce Cr(VI) to Cr(III) under infrared light irradiation. The CdTe nanoparticles are prepared under a facile hydrothermal condition, with diameters of approximately 22 nm, which shows high photo-reduced efficiencies to Cr(VI) of 82.44% at the irradiation of a Xe lamp (500 W, including the visible light and infrared light), and 25.54% under the irradiation of infrared light, respectively. The active species of e−, h+, and OH participate in the reduction of Cr(VI), and the photogenerated e− and OH both play a critical role in the infrared light region. This study proposes a new pathway for Cr(VI) photoreduction in wastewater under visible-NIR light irradiation which shows an application potential as a photocatalyst at the infrared light range and provides new insights for pollution reduction and environmental improvement.