Innovative synthesis of TiO2 nanorod/WO3 nanoflakes heterojunction photocatalyst for visible light degradation of Nitenpyram insecticide

In the current study, for the first time, an innovative hydrothermal method was proposed for the synthesis of TiO2/WO3 heterojunction nanocomposite from the combination of TiO2 nanorod, and WO3 nanoflakes. Because of environmental issues arising from the vast use of insecticides, this nanocomposite photocatalyst was applied for the first time for photocatalytic degradation of Nitenpyram insecticide under visible light irradiation. The prepared nanocomposite was fully characterized by XRD, FESEM, DRS, PL, and Mott-Schottky analysis. The results revealed that the heterojunction sample had the best photocatalytic performance. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of this heterojunction is attributed to the decrease of the charge carrier’s recombination rate and enhanced visible light harvesting. Moreover, based on the radical trapping experiments and Mott-Schottky calculations, hydroxide radical was determined as the main active species for decomposition of Nitenpyram insecticide, and type II charge transfer mechanism was revealed to be responsible for the enhanced photocatalytic performance, which charge transfer between the two semiconductors results in the decreasing of the charge carrier’s recombination rate.