Synergetic effect of CuS@ZnS nanostructures on photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutant under visible light irradiation

Abstract

Ultrafast visible light active CuS/ZnS nanostructured photocatalysts were synthesized by a hydrothermal method. The effect of the CuS concentration on the morphological, structural and optical properties of ZnS nanostructures were investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated the formation of CuS/ZnS phases with good crystallinity. The presence of ZnS on CuS was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, elemental mapping, scanning electron microscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy analyses. CuS/ZnS nanocomposites efficiently decomposed methylene blue (MB) upon irradiation with visible light. The degradation time was 3 times faster than that of bare ZnS and CuS. The scavenger analysis results revealed that photogenerated superoxide (O₂⁻˙) radicals were the main reactive species for the degradation of MB. The maximum degradation efficiency of 95.51% was observed within 5 min for samples of 0.050 M CuS/ZnS composites. The obtained results suggested that the enhanced photocatalytic activity was due to the formation of CuS/ZnS heterojunctions which led to the efficient separation of the photoinduced carriers.