Z-scheme CeO2/Ag/CdS heterojunctions functionalized cotton fibers as highly recyclable and efficient visible light-driven photocatalysts for the degradation of dyes br

High-performance photocatalysts with excellent recyclability are viewed as promising materials for dyecontaminated wastewater remediation. In this work, novel Z-scheme CeO2/Ag/CdS ternary heterojunction composites were successfully prepared, which exhibited high photocatalytic activity for efficient visible lightdriven degradation of organic dyes, due to the effective charge transfer at the interface of the formed Zscheme ternary heterojunction. Further, to endow photocatalysts with the facile recyclable feature, the CeO2/Ag/ CdS heterojunctions functionalized cotton fibers (CeO2/Ag/CdS-CF) were fabricated based on the "active esteramino" chemical reaction via utilization of pentafluorophenyl esters. The results presented that the as-prepared CeO2/Ag/CdS-CF had superior photocatalytic activity towards dyes, which could remove 89.4% of methylene blue (MB) under visible-light irradiation for 180 min. Additionally, the CeO2/Ag/CdS-CF showed outstanding recyclability and long-term stability with the MB degradation efficiency remaining above 82.3% even after 5 successive cycles. Overall, this work not only provides a highly visible light active CeO2/Ag/CdS-CF system for dye wastewater treatment but also contributes to developing a versatile method to prepare facile recyclable photocatalysts.