Cs₃Bi₂Br₉ nanoparticles decorated C₃N₄ nanotubes composite photocatalyst for highly selective oxidation of benzylic alcohol

Solar-light driven oxidation of benzylic alcohols over photocatalysts endows significant prospects in value-added organics evolution owing to its facile, inexpensive and sustainable process. However, the unsatisfactory performance of actual photocatalysts due to the inefficient charge separation, low photoredox potential and sluggish surface reaction impedes the practical application of this process. Herein, we developed an innovative Z-Scheme Cs₃BiBr₉ nanoparticles@porous C₃N₄ tubes (CBB-NP@P-tube-CN) heterojunction photocatalyst for highly selective benzyl alcohol oxidation. Such composite combining increased photo-oxidation potential, Z-Scheme charge migration route as well as the structural advantages of porous tubular C₃N₄ ensures the accelerated mass and ions diffusion kinetics, the fast photoinduced carriers dissociation and sufficient photoredox potentials. The CBB-NP@P-tube-CN photocatalyst demonstrates an exceptional performance for selective photo-oxidation of benzylic alcohol into benzaldehyde with 19, 14 and 3 times higher benzylic alcohols conversion rate than those of C₃N₄ nanotubes, Cs₃Bi₂Br₉ and Cs₃Bi₂Br₉@bulk C₃N₄ photocatalysts, respectively. This work offers a sustainable photocatalytic system based on lead-free halide perovskite toward large scale solar-light driven value-added chemicals production. © 2024 Elsevier Inc.