Z-scheme CeO2/Ag/CdS heterojunctions functionalized cotton fibers as highly recyclable and efficient visible light-driven photocatalysts for the degradation of dyes

High-performance photocatalysts with excellent recyclability are viewed as promising materials for dye-contaminated wastewater remediation. In this work, novel Z-scheme CeO2/Ag/CdS ternary heterojunction composites were successfully prepared, which exhibited high photocatalytic activity for efficient visible light-driven degradation of organic dyes, due to the effective charge transfer at the interface of the formed Z-scheme ternary heterojunction. Further, to endow photocatalysts with the facile recyclable feature, the CeO2/Ag/CdS heterojunctions functionalized cotton fibers (CeO2/Ag/CdS-CF) were fabricated based on the “active ester-amino” chemical reaction via utilization of pentafluorophenyl esters. The results presented that the as-prepared CeO2/Ag/CdS-CF had superior photocatalytic activity towards dyes, which could remove 89.4% of methylene blue (MB) under visible-light irradiation for 180 min. Additionally, the CeO2/Ag/CdS-CF showed outstanding recyclability and long-term stability with the MB degradation efficiency remaining above 82.3% even after 5 successive cycles. Overall, this work not only provides a highly visible light active CeO2/Ag/CdS-CF system for dye wastewater treatment but also contributes to developing a versatile method to prepare facile recyclable photocatalysts.