Work

Spatially Separated Molecular Activation Over Dual Sites in Sn‐Doped ZnGa 2 O 4 /SnO 2 Photocatalysts Toward Complete VOCs Mineralization

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Photocatalysis holds great promise for air pollutant remediation; however, its efficiency is often limited by charge recombination and humidity interference. Herein, Sn‐doped ZnGa 2 O 4 loaded SnO 2 nanoparticles (SZGO) is in situ constructed via a one‐step hydrothermal method. The doped Sn atoms act as electron‐trapping centers and form interfacial Sn─O channels between ZnGa 2 O 4 and SnO 2 , enabling directional electron migration. Hydrophilic ZnGa 2 O 4 domains selectively adsorb H 2 O, generating hydroxyl radicals (·OH) that facilitate aromatic ring cleavage, while electron‐rich SnO 2 domains activate O 2 to produce superoxide (·O 2 − ) and singlet oxygen ( 1 O 2 ), leading to complete degradation of carbonaceous intermediates. The optimized SZGO achieves nearly 100% toluene degradation and 99.2% mineralization efficiency, with excellent stability across a wide humidity range (0–100%) and over 12 continuous cycles (720 min). Additionally, SZGO demonstrates broad‐spectrum reactivity toward other volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as acetone and formaldehyde. This work offers a versatile design strategy that couples directional charge transport with site‐specific molecular activation, providing new insights for the development of highly stable photocatalysts for environmental purification.

Source: Advanced Science

DOI: 10.1002/advs.202509891