Fabrication of porous Z-scheme CeCoO3/WO3-x heterojunctions for efficient solvent-free photothermal catalytic oxidation of cyclohexane

• A Z-scheme CeCoO 3 /WO 3-x heterojunction with oxygen vacancies was constructed. • The CeCoO 3 /WO 3-x possesses unique heterojunction interface and excellent hotoelectrochemical properties. • The CeCoO 3 /WO 3-x exhibited exceptional catalytic performance for the photothermal cyclohexane oxidation. • Possible mechanism for enhancing photothermal synergy catalytic performance of cyclohexane oxidation was proposed. The photothermal selective oxidation of cyclohexane to produce KA oil (cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol) under solvent-free conditions holds significant importance. However, the one-step photothermal oxidation of cyclohexane to produce downstream high-value products adipic acid (AA) remains a challenge at present. Hereby, a highly efficient Z-scheme CeCoO 3 /WO 3-x heterojunction photothermal catalyst was designed and constructed based on the interface engineering. Through photothermal synergistic effects, CeCoO 3 /WO 3-x achieves the efficient and highly selective oxidation of cyclohexane under solvent-free conditions and visible-light irradiation. Notably, the cyclohexane conversion reached 13.7 % with an overall selectivity of 97.6 % (where liquid KA oil selectivity was 65.2 % and solid AA selectivity was 32.4 %). The enhanced catalytic performance stems from the Z-scheme heterojunction structure, which effectively promotes photogenerated charge separation and transport, suppresses charge recombination, broadens the light response range, and exhibits a large specific surface area with porous structure. This study provides novel insights for designing highly efficient photothermal catalytic systems for the selective oxidation of low-carbon alkanes.