Ternary zinc oxide-tungsten oxide-MXenes nanocomposite as a high performance material for photocatalytic and photo-electrocatalytic desulfurization of dibenzothiophene

It is of prime importance to develop the high-performance photocatalytic materials for desulfurization of organosulfur compounds, which is essential for producing clean diesel fuel and still remains a grand challenge. Tuning the electronic structure through composites of different metal oxides and i...

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Main Authors: Zohreh Tahmasebi, Ensieh Ghasemian Lemraski
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-08-01
Series:Electrochemistry Communications
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1388248125000724
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author Zohreh Tahmasebi
Ensieh Ghasemian Lemraski
author_facet Zohreh Tahmasebi
Ensieh Ghasemian Lemraski
author_sort Zohreh Tahmasebi
collection DOAJ
description It is of prime importance to develop the high-performance photocatalytic materials for desulfurization of organosulfur compounds, which is essential for producing clean diesel fuel and still remains a grand challenge. Tuning the electronic structure through composites of different metal oxides and improving the photocatalytic active sites through morphology regulation in the form of nanostructures are the most popular ways to enhance the photocatalytic performance. Herein, mesoporous ternary composite materials based on WO3/ZnO/MXene were prepared using a simple physical mixing method. The results showed that the WO3/ZnO/MXene exhibits a higher photocurrent density (1300 μA/cm2) than ZnO/MXenes (90 μA/cm2). The photocatalytic activity performance of the composite was investigated toward photocatalytic oxidation of dibenzothiophene (DBT) in n-Hexane solution. The effect of key parameters such as temperature, reaction time, DBT concentration, solvent, and voltage in desulfurization of DBT were investigated using the as-prepared composite materials. Under optimum condition, the WO3/ZnO/MXene revealed up to 82.25 % desulfurization efficiency, which is greater than with ZnO/MXenes materials. Moreover, in comparison with photocatalysis and electrocatalysis approaches, the photo-electrocatalytic method offered better performance and degradation efficiency using WO3/ZnO/MXenes photoanode with 92.62 % DBT removal during the reaction time. This enhanced activity toward photocatalytic oxidation of DBT can be due to the synergistic effect of multiple metal oxides, increased surface area, presence of mesoporous structure, and uniform distribution of metal oxides in the layered-MXenes structure.
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spelling doaj-art-ce2ca4507eda47bdab20a1977e06f38c2025-08-20T03:35:43ZengElsevierElectrochemistry Communications1388-24812025-08-0117710793310.1016/j.elecom.2025.107933Ternary zinc oxide-tungsten oxide-MXenes nanocomposite as a high performance material for photocatalytic and photo-electrocatalytic desulfurization of dibenzothiopheneZohreh Tahmasebi0Ensieh Ghasemian Lemraski1Corresponding authors.; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ilam University, P. O. Box: 69315516, Ilam, IranCorresponding authors.; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ilam University, P. O. Box: 69315516, Ilam, IranIt is of prime importance to develop the high-performance photocatalytic materials for desulfurization of organosulfur compounds, which is essential for producing clean diesel fuel and still remains a grand challenge. Tuning the electronic structure through composites of different metal oxides and improving the photocatalytic active sites through morphology regulation in the form of nanostructures are the most popular ways to enhance the photocatalytic performance. Herein, mesoporous ternary composite materials based on WO3/ZnO/MXene were prepared using a simple physical mixing method. The results showed that the WO3/ZnO/MXene exhibits a higher photocurrent density (1300 μA/cm2) than ZnO/MXenes (90 μA/cm2). The photocatalytic activity performance of the composite was investigated toward photocatalytic oxidation of dibenzothiophene (DBT) in n-Hexane solution. The effect of key parameters such as temperature, reaction time, DBT concentration, solvent, and voltage in desulfurization of DBT were investigated using the as-prepared composite materials. Under optimum condition, the WO3/ZnO/MXene revealed up to 82.25 % desulfurization efficiency, which is greater than with ZnO/MXenes materials. Moreover, in comparison with photocatalysis and electrocatalysis approaches, the photo-electrocatalytic method offered better performance and degradation efficiency using WO3/ZnO/MXenes photoanode with 92.62 % DBT removal during the reaction time. This enhanced activity toward photocatalytic oxidation of DBT can be due to the synergistic effect of multiple metal oxides, increased surface area, presence of mesoporous structure, and uniform distribution of metal oxides in the layered-MXenes structure.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1388248125000724PhotocatalysisDesulfurizationDibenzothiopheneComposite materialsMetal oxidesMXenes
spellingShingle Zohreh Tahmasebi
Ensieh Ghasemian Lemraski
Ternary zinc oxide-tungsten oxide-MXenes nanocomposite as a high performance material for photocatalytic and photo-electrocatalytic desulfurization of dibenzothiophene
Electrochemistry Communications
Photocatalysis
Desulfurization
Dibenzothiophene
Composite materials
Metal oxides
MXenes
title Ternary zinc oxide-tungsten oxide-MXenes nanocomposite as a high performance material for photocatalytic and photo-electrocatalytic desulfurization of dibenzothiophene
title_full Ternary zinc oxide-tungsten oxide-MXenes nanocomposite as a high performance material for photocatalytic and photo-electrocatalytic desulfurization of dibenzothiophene
title_fullStr Ternary zinc oxide-tungsten oxide-MXenes nanocomposite as a high performance material for photocatalytic and photo-electrocatalytic desulfurization of dibenzothiophene
title_full_unstemmed Ternary zinc oxide-tungsten oxide-MXenes nanocomposite as a high performance material for photocatalytic and photo-electrocatalytic desulfurization of dibenzothiophene
title_short Ternary zinc oxide-tungsten oxide-MXenes nanocomposite as a high performance material for photocatalytic and photo-electrocatalytic desulfurization of dibenzothiophene
title_sort ternary zinc oxide tungsten oxide mxenes nanocomposite as a high performance material for photocatalytic and photo electrocatalytic desulfurization of dibenzothiophene
topic Photocatalysis
Desulfurization
Dibenzothiophene
Composite materials
Metal oxides
MXenes
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1388248125000724
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AT ensiehghasemianlemraski ternaryzincoxidetungstenoxidemxenesnanocompositeasahighperformancematerialforphotocatalyticandphotoelectrocatalyticdesulfurizationofdibenzothiophene