A novel sandwich-type thorium-substituted phosphotungstate, [H₂N(CH₃)₂]₁₀[Th(PW₁₁O₃₉)₂]·24H₂O (ThP₂W₂₂), was synthesized and fully characterized. The structure consists of two monolacunary Keggin-type [PW₁₁O₃₉]⁷⁻ units bridged by an eight-coordinate Th⁴⁺ center. ThP₂W₂₂ functions as an efficient Lewis acid catalyst for the synthesis of 2,3-dihydroquinazolinones via cyclization of 2-aminobenzamides with aldehydes. A series of quinazolinone derivatives was obtained in high yields (75%–92%) under mild and green reaction conditions. Control experiments indicate a synergistic interaction between the Th⁴⁺ center and the polyoxometalate framework, highlighting the potential of thorium-containing polyoxometalates as catalysts for heterocycle synthesis.

Photo-excited holes usually migrate to the surface of the catalyst and rapidly recombine with electrons, reducing the photocatalytic reduction efficiency of uranium(VI) (U(VI)) in radioactive wastewater. Consequently, we employed a straightforward synthesis technique to meticulously shape and manipulate the morphology of CdS to precisely construct CdS-Ni dandelion-like composites with different aspect ratios. Briefly, the introduction of crystal facet homojunction with Ohmic contacts in this unique morphology siqnificantly improves the photocatalytic efficiency. Temperature-dependent photoluminescence spectroscopy (TD-PL) verifies that the composite material positively effects on the dissociation of excitons. Within 30 min, CdS(002)/(102)/Ni-4 removed 98% of the uranium content in solution and showed a rather high apparent rate constant (0.114 min⁻¹), which was 4.8 times higher than that of CdS nanospheres (NSs) (0.024 min⁻¹) and 3.7 times higher than that of CdS nanorods (NRs) (0.031 min⁻¹). This is much higher the most reported photocatalysts for U(VI) reduction. Even after 5 consecutive cycles, the photocatalytic efficiency only decreased by 7%. This offers a fresh perspective on constructing a new perspective for building a green, efficient, and multi mechanism collaborative catalytic system to remediate environmental pollution.

Piezo-photocatalysis could coalesce the advantages of mechanical vibration and solar energy perfectly to achieve high-efficiency catalytic activity. Herein, the quintessential piezoelectric material CdS nanowires with different aspect ratios are precisely constructed and applied for piezo-photocatalytic reduction of U(Ⅵ) for the first time. The ultrasonic (60 kHz, 100 W) induces piezoelectric potential to generate a 0.57 eV A⁻¹ electric field, which is added to the direction of CdS (010) as a driving force to efficiently separate photogenerated charges. The alliance between piezoelectric effect and photocatalytic activity endows CdS NW-3 with the fastest piezo-photocatalytic rate under ultrasonic vibration and 5 W LED irradiation, and the relevant rate constant (0.042 min⁻¹) is about 12 and 53.8 times than that of LED and ultrasonication. More importantly, 93.74% of U(Ⅵ) could be removed from natural uranium mine wastewater. Therefore, this piezo-photocatalysis system that reduces U(Ⅵ) to easily separable (UO₂)O₂·2H₂O(s) provides valuable input for disposal applications of radioactive wastewater and broadens the horizons of nuclear energy utilization toward the advancement of carbon neutrality.