Initiating photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants under ultra-low light intensity via oxygen-centered organic radicals.

ABSTRACT: Photocatalysis is a promising method for in situ water pollution remediation but faces challenges due to the limited natural light intensity. Herein, we achieved highly-efficient photocatalytic removal of organic pollutants even under ultra-low light intensities of only 0.1 mW cm^-2. This was accomplished by developing and effectively stabilizing novel reactive species, oxygen-centered organic radicals (OCORs), which have an impressive half-life of up to seven minutes in water. With lifetimes that are 8 to 11 orders of magnitude longer than for traditional transient radicals, OCORs can effectively wait for pollutants to diffuse, enabling them to remove organic pollutants through polymerization and degradation pathways. The mechanism behind the stability of OCORs lies in th

SUBMITTER: He Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11783092 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature