@article{Xu2025, 
author = {Shen-Yue Xu and Ping Wang and Bo-Wen Zhang and Cheng Wang and Jingxiang Low and Vladimir K. Ivanov and Zhi-Ming Zhang},
title = {Nickel-substituted polyoxometalate-CdS single-cluster photocatalysts for efficient plastic waste degradation coupled with H2 production},
year = {2025},
journal = {Polyoxometalates},
volume = {4},
number = {3},
pages = {9140096},
keywords = {polyoxometalate, plastic waste degradation, photocatalysis, hydrogen evolution},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/POM.2025.9140096},
doi = {10.26599/POM.2025.9140096},
abstract = {The photocatalytic degradation of plastic waste represents a pivotal strategy for mitigating the global plastic pollution and fostering resource-efficient utilization. Herein, a facile impregnation method was used to uniformly load various Ni-substituted polyoxometalates (Ni-POMs) onto CdS nanospheres and thus obtain a series of single-cluster Ni-POM@CdS photocatalysts. During visible-light irradiation for 10 h, the catalyst with the highest synergistic photoredox performance (Ni9@CdS-10) achieved an exceptional extent of polylactic acid degradation and H2 productivity (22.29 mmol·gcat−1) exceeding that of pristine CdS ~ 160-fold. The generation of pyruvate—a versatile and valuable chemical—as a degradation product (19.01 mmol·gcat−1) rendered the process highly economically viable. Systematic control experiments and comprehensive characterization analyses indicate that the photocatalytic degradation of plastic waste by Ni9@CdS-10 proceeds via a charge transfer–mediated mechanism, with the Ni9 clusters acting as electron sponges and efficiently extracting photogenerated electrons from CdS to promote H2 evolution while facilitating hole-dominated plastic oxidation. This work provides valuable insights into the development of plastic waste degradation processes promoted by Ni-POM photocatalysts and establishes a practical strategy for converting plastic waste into fuels and chemicals.}
}