Rational Design of <scp>C</scp> d <scp>S QD</scp> s/ <scp>C</scp> e <scp>O</scp> <sub>2</sub> Nanocube S‐Scheme Heterojunctions for Highly Efficient <scp>C</scp> <sub>2</sub> <scp>H</scp> <sub>4</sub> Scavenging in Fresh Produce Preservation
Effectively eliminating ethylene (C 2 H 4 ) during postharvest phase and distribution of fruits and vegetables continues to pose a significant technical hurdle. Although S‐scheme heterojunctions have shown promise in optimizing charge carrier separation and redox capacity for ethylene degradation, their catalytic efficiency is still limited by insufficient oxygen activation kinetics. Herein, a novel S‐scheme heterojunction composed of CdS quantum dots and CeO 2 nanocubes was first rationally designed and was innovatively constructed for the first time, leveraging the oxygen‐affinitive characteristics of CeO 2 and guided by DFT calculations to enhance interfacial charge transfer and oxygen activation. The optimized 10‐CdS–CeO 2 composite exhibited superior photocatalytic activity under visible light exposure, exhibited a quasi‐first‐order reaction rate reaching 1.72 min −1 , 35 and 297 times higher than CdS and CeO 2 , respectively. Even under low‐intensity illumination (50 mW·cm −2 ), complete ethylene degradation was observed within 4 min, surpassing all previous literature known to the authors. Mechanistic investigations via in situ irradiated XPS, UPS, PL, TRPL, and ESR confirmed strong interfacial interactions, efficient S‐scheme charge separation, and accelerated O 2 activation. The findings establish a reliable theoretical and experimental basis for guiding the development of next‐generation high‐performance photocatalysts for ethylene scavenging, providing a promising strategy for postharvest preservation of fruits and vegetables.
Authors
- Yankun Zhou
- Z. S. Xu
- Shenghang Peng
- Xuxing Chen
- Qifan Zhang
- Alex Aziz
- Rong Li
Institutions
- Manchester Metropolitan University (GB)
- Ministry of Education (MV)
- Hubei University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Energy & environment materials
- Published
- 2026-01-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/eem2.70275
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Hubei Provincial Department of Education
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- China Scholarship Council
- State Key Laboratory of Structural Chemistry
- Hubei Engineering University
- Hubei University
- Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter
- National College Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program