Construction of CoS@ZnIn2S4-Ce heterostructured cage for high-efficiently photocatalytic degradation of the contaminants produced by tobacco

Nowadays, researchers make great effects to eliminate some harmful chemicals produced by tobacco. Photocatalysis is one of the most advanced techniques and can degrade organic contaminants effectively. In this paper, a novel CoS@ZnIn 2 S 4 -Ce heterostructured cage was successfully prepared for degradation. After various characterizations, CoS@ZnIn 2 S 4 -Ce exhibited a significant separation of the photo-generated electrons and holes and could degrade phenol effectively no matter under UV light (98.46 %) or visible light (96.72 %). Furthermore, CoS@ZnIn 2 S 4 -Ce could degrade nicotine (91.62 %), benzopyrene (84.65 %) and nitrosamine (99.18 %) effectively under visible light. The effects of the initial conditions on degradation of phenol was also well investigated. The optimal conditions were 0.5 g/L of catalyst dosage, 4.35–7.00 of pH value and 10 mg/L of phenol initial concentration. OH and O 2 − were the main active radicals during the photo-degradation process. On this basis, a possible photocatalytic degradation pathway for degradation of contaminants produced by tobacco are proposed.