Solvothermal Synthesis of Cs_0.33 WO₃ /LDHs Composite as a Novel Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalyst

A novel Cs_0.33 WO₃ /LDHs (CWLDH) composite was synthesized by simple two steps solvothermal method and first investigated as the photocatalyst for tetracycline (TC) and Congo red (CR) degradation under visible light irradiation. The CWLDH heterostructures catalysts were characterized by XRD, UV-Vis, SEM, XPS and BET. The composite CWLDH showed enhanced photocatalytic activity compared with pure Cs_0.33 WO₃ and NiAl-LDH under identical experimental conditions. The enhanced photocatalytic activity was mainly attributed to the higher visible light-absorbing ability, efficient electron-hole separation and prolonged lifetimes of photogenerated charges. The photocatalyst presented a high photocatalytic activity (92%) at the optimum of CWLDH-3 and initial TC concentration of 40 mg L^-1 . Besides, the degradation efficiency of TC is higher than 75% for reused CWLDH after four cycles, demonstrating that it could be used as a potential catalyst with good photocatalytic activity, stability and reusability. According to the experimental results, a possible photocatalytic mechanism of CWLDH was discussed.