Abstract: The synthesis of solar-driven chemical value-added products and the degradation of pollutants is a promising approach for sustainable development. However, achieving these works via photocatalysts with efficient charge-separation, photo-absorption is challenging. A yolk-shell CuCo₂S₄@Cu₂O Z-scheme nanoreactor (YS-CuCo₂S₄@Cu₂O-NR) with octahedron Cu₂O as the core and tubular CuCo₂S₄ as the shell, has been synthesized by regulating composition and morphology. YS-CuCo₂S₄@Cu₂O-NR shows superior photocatalytic activities for producing H₂O₂ collaborates by selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol (BA) to high value-added benzaldehyde (BAD)/utilized Fenton-like reaction to degrade multi-pollutants through space-confinement effect, reaching 80% conversion and 99% selectivity of BA, a yield of 12 mM g^-1 for H₂O₂ and above 90% degradation efficiency for multi-pollutants. A photocatalysis nanoconfinement reactor system is proposed and demonstrated by using yolk-shell to enhance the performance of the chemical reaction. Mechanism studies show that the yolk-shell provides confined space to accelerate redox reaction kinetics; while the inner void promotes light harvesting and keeps yolk Cu₂O from deactivation; combined with the Z-scheme charge transfer, engineering Cu⁺/Cu²⁺ active composition, they are favorable for enhancing the H₂O₂ generation and Fenton-like activity. These findings provide new opportunities for application of yolk-shell Z-scheme metal-oxide-based photocatalysts.

Key words: Octahedron yolk-shell structure catalyzer, Z-scheme charge transfer, H₂O₂ generation, Selective oxidation of BA, Fenton-like reaction