Simultaneously inhibiting thermodynamic and kinetic photocorrosion of p-type Cu2O via amorphous hole transfer conformal interfaces

p-Cu 2 O is one of the most promising p-type semiconductor photocatalysts for the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy. However, the thermodynamically and kinetically permissible self-oxidation reaction of p-Cu 2 O leads to its low photostability, which remains a bottleneck for its practical application in photocatalysis. Herein, we have simultaneously inhibited thermodynamic and kinetic photocorrosion of p-Cu 2 O via constructing an amorphous hole-transfer conformal interface, which can maintain 91 % photocatalytic degradation efficiency at 6 cycles photodegradation of tetracycline (TC). The significantly improved photostability of the p-Cu 2 O is attributed to the formation of amorphous hole-transfer medium with a conformal shell structure on the surface of p-Cu 2 O, which can inhibit the thermodynamic self-oxidation of p-Cu 2 O by avoiding the contact between the photocatalyst and the electrolyte, and kinetically inhibit photocorrosion of p-Cu 2 O via accelerating hole transfer. These results should provide a fundamental solution to the photocorrosion of the photocatalysts, and open new opportunities for the design and development of photostable catalytic system.