Excellent photocatalytic performance under visible-light irradiation of ZnS/rGO nanocomposites synthesized by a green method

Abstract

ZnS/graphene nanocomposites with different graphene concentrations (5, 10 and 15 wt.%) were synthesized using L-cysteine as surfactant and graphene oxide (GO) powders as graphene source. Excellent performance for nanocomposites to remove methylene blue (MB) dye and hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) under visible-light illumination was revealed. TEM images showed that ZnS NPs were decorated on GO sheets and the GO caused a significant decrease in the ZnS diameter size. XRD patterns, XPS and FTIR spectroscopy results indicated that GO sheets changed into reduced graphene oxide (rGO) during the synthesis process. Photocurrent measurements under a visible-light source indicated a good chemical reaction between ZnS NPs and rGO sheets.

Keywords

ZnS/rGO nanocomposites / graphene / photocatalytic performance / water treatment / green nanotechnology

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Acknowledgement

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Islamic Azad University (I.A.U.), Masjed-Soleiman Branch for its support of this research work.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2016 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg