Inexpensive semiconductive hybrid cuprous iodide for photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI)

Due to their unique semiconductive properties, the application of metal halides as photocatalysts for settling the increasing environmental contaminations has recently gained tremendous attention. Herein, we demonstrated the suitability of a robust hybrid cuprous iodide, namely Cu2I2-bipy (bipy = 4,4′-bipyridine), for photocatalytic reduction of highly toxic Cr(VI). Compared with most known materials, the Cu2I2-bipy photocatalyst has the merits of low cost, easy preparation, good stability and suitable band gap. Further photocatalytic experiments show that Cu2I2-bipy is highly efficient for Cr(VI) reduction with the rapid kinetics, high conversion rate and excellent cycling stability. Theoretical calculations reveal that the separation of valence bands (VBs) and conduction bands (CBs) in Cu2I2-bipy may be the main reason for its excellent photocatalytic performances.