Abstract
A photothermal nanoconfinement reactor (PNCR) system is proposed and demonstrated by using hollow carbon nanospheres (HCNs) to enhance the performance of the chemical reaction. Under light irradiation, the local temperature of the HCN inner void space was much higher than the bulk solution temperature because the confined space concentrates heat and inhibits heat loss. Using the temperature‐sensitive model reaction, peroxydisulfate (PDS) activation to oxidize micropollutant, it is shown that the degradation rate of sulfamethoxazole in the PNCR system is 7.1 times of that without nanoconfinement. It is further discovered that the high‐quality local heat inside the nanoconfined space shifted the model reaction from an otherwise non‐radical pathway to a radical‐based pathway. This work provides an interesting strategy to produce a locally high temperature, which has a wide range of applications to energy and environmental fields.
A photothermal nanoconfinement reactor (PNCR) comprised of hollow carbon nanospheres boosts the overall chemical reaction rate of an otherwise large reaction volume during peroxydisulfate‐mediated oxidation of micropollutants. The reaction pathway, which would ordinarily involve radical species, is directed through a non‐radical pathway because of the local heat in the nanoconfined space.