Hydrophilic regulated photocatalytic converting phenol selectively over S-scheme CuWO4/TiO2

Heterojunction construction is regarded to be among the most promising pathways for photocatalytic H2 evolution and organic conversion. Herein, precursor of CuWO4 (P-CWO) and CuWO4 (CWO) were fabricated via low temperature hydrothermal as well as high temperature calcination method, respectively. P–CuWO4/TiO2 (P-CWO/T) and CuWO4/TiO2 (CWO/T) heterojunctions were consequently obtained through simple mechanical mixing with TiO2. In light the S-scheme electron-hole separation and superior photocatalytic redox ability, the H2 evolution rate was found to increase to 6169.25 and 6026.8 μmol g−1·h−1, which was over 26 times higher than that of pure TiO2 under a 300 W Xe lamp in the range of 350–780 nm. P-CWO/T tend to produce more ·OH due to the surface bound H2O and hydroxyl ligand. Particularly, closely related to the proportion of ·OH and ·CH3 active radicals, selective conversion of phenol can be controlled to 4-hydroxy-3-methylbenzoic acid and 2-methylbenzene-1,4-diol respectively. This work not only presents unique S-scheme heterojunction in improving photocatalytic efficiency but also offers a selective route for the conversion of phenol in the perspective of active free radicals.