Microstructure Optimization of Mos₂/Sepiolite Nanocomposites via a Surfactant-Assisted Hydrothermal Strategy for High Efficiency Photocatalysis

Abstract

The unique structure of two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) with rich active sites makes it a promising catalyst, whereas it also brings structural instability. Surfactant-assisted synthesis of MoS2 can be regarded as a simple way to regulate the microstructure. In this work, the surfactant additives were adopted to optimize the microstructure of MoS2/sepiolite nanocomposite, and the effects of surfactants type and concentration were investigated. For the sample prepared with 1 mol/L sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS), it exhibits the highest intensity for the peak of MoS2 at 14.2°, highly dispersed MoS2 nanosheet on the sepiolite, the lowest absorption intensity of Rhodamine B (RhB) at 553 nm of the wavelength, and the highest photocatalytic activity which is 2.5 times and 4.2 times higher than those prepared with 1 mol/L hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and 1 mol/L polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) after a 150-minute irradiation, respectively. The above results suggest SDBS is the optimal surfactant to optimize the microstructure of MoS2/sepiolite nanocomposite. This work could provide new insights into the fabrication of high-quality MoS2-based nanocomposite.

ZnO-Impregnated Polyacrylonitrile Nanofiber Filters against Various Phases of Air Pollutants

“…First, the fiber photocatalyst (25 mg) was added to MB solution (50 mL, 10 ppm) in a 100 mL beaker. The beaker was then completely covered with aluminum foil and the mixture was stirred in the dark for 30 min to achieve adsorption–desorption equilibrium [ 28 ] between the fiber and MB solution. After that, stirring was continued while the cover was removed and the light source turned on.…”

The solvent-free mechano-chemical grinding of a bifunctional P25–graphene oxide adsorbent–photocatalyst and its configuration as porous beads

“…A popular current trend consists of the development of bifunctional adsorbent–photocatalyst nanocomposites via merging two or more components. 8,9 Illustrative examples include the association of high-surface-area materials and inorganic semiconductors, 10 and the creation of heterojunctions via closely combining two different photoactive materials, resulting in tuneable visible-light photoactivity. 11 In this context, conductive graphitic carbon materials have shown efficiency as photosensitizing partners, 12 with many precedents in the literature demonstrating the combination of titanium dioxide (including P25) with both graphene oxide (GO) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs).…”

A three-dimensional nano-network WO3/F-TiO2-{001} heterojunction constructed with OH-TiOF2 as the precursor and its efficient degradation of methylene blue

“…5 Recently, a variety of photocatalytic materials have been developed to degrade organic pollutants, such as Ag-based nanocomposites, alveolate Cu 2Àx Se microsheets, MoS nanosheets, MoS 2 /sepiolite, and MoS 2 /sepiolite. [6][7][8][9][10] In this paper, TiO 2 is used, as one of the most common semiconductor photocatalysts, which has the advantages of usability, corrosion resistance, nontoxicity and good chemical stability. [11][12][13][14] However, TiO 2 has a wide band gap of 3.0-3.2 eV, which causes it to respond only under ultraviolet radiation, and its photocarriers recombine rapidly, which seriously hinders its application and development in practice.…”