Decoration of X2C nanoparticles on CdS nanostructures for highly efficient photocatalytic wastewater treatment under visible light

Abstract

It is necessary to design and fabricate effective and stable heterostructures to enhance the photocatalyst performance. In this research, we developed stable metal carbide (Mo2C and W2C) embedded cadmium sulfide (CdS) hybrid nanostructure photocatalysts to increase the light adsorption capacity and effectively enhance the photocatalytic activity. A simple hydrothermal technique was employed to effectively fabricate the CdS and CdS:X2C (X = Mo or W) hybrid photocatalyst. Microscopy studies demonstrated the surface modification of the hybrid structure due to the X2C incorporation with CdS. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and energy dispersive analysis measurements were performed to characterize the hybrid structure materialization. The photocatalytic properties of CdS and CdS:X2C hybrid structures were evaluated by degrading Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light. The polygonal shaped CdS:X2C exhibited excellent photocatalytic activities. The highly porous structure of CdS:X2C indicated that many exposed active facets were available due to the embedding of petal-shaped X2C, which enabled the effective adsorption and transference of RhB organic molecules to the active edges. Moreover, the hierarchical structure of CdS:X2C corresponded to a high light-absorption efficiency due to the increased length of light trails and enhanced interfacial shifting of the valence state electrons, which reduced the optical band-gap.