An artificial organic-inorganic Z-scheme photocatalyst WO3@Cu@PDI supramolecular with excellent visible light absorption and photocatalytic activity

[Display omitted] •Organic-inorganic WO3@Cu@PDI heterostructure was prepared.•Z-scheme heterostructure promote charge transport and separation.•30% WO3@Cu@PDI heterostructure possesses highest degradation rate.•Z-scheme mechanism was demonstrated by ESR and experimental observations. Tungsten trioxide (WO3) has a wide application in environmental remediation due to its stability. Yet, the application of WO3 is severely limited by its wide band gap and weak electron reduction ability. In this work, we intend to enhance the visible light absorption and photocatalytic performance by constructing an organic-inorganic Z-scheme system WO3@Cu@PDI. Apparently, WO3@Cu@PDI has excellent visible light absorption and photocatalytic degradation ability in the degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC). Under visible light irradiation, the degradation rate of composites is 40 times faster than that of sole WO3 and 5 times than PDI. The photocatalytic activity of WO3@Cu@PDI toward TC still kept 85% after three reuses. We revealed that this high photoactivity arisen from the efficient carriers separation and the formation of Z-scheme junction. Importantly, this Z-scheme electron transfer pathway was confirmed by thorough experimental study. This work demonstrated the significant potential of WO3-based inorganic-organic Z-scheme photocatalyst in environmental remediation.