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. 2021 Jul 20;11(1):14787.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-94129-0.

One-pot synthesis of S-scheme MoS2/g-C3N4 heterojunction as effective visible light photocatalyst

Ha Tran Huu  1 , My Duyen Nguyen Thi  2 , Van Phuc Nguyen  2 , Lan Nguyen Thi  2 , Thi Thuy Trang Phan  2 , Quoc Dat Hoang  3 , Huy Hoang Luc  4 , Sung Jin Kim  5 , Vien Vo  6
Affiliations

One-pot synthesis of S-scheme MoS2/g-C3N4 heterojunction as effective visible light photocatalyst

Ha Tran Huu et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Despite pioneering as the holy grail in photocatalysts, abundant reports have demonstrated that g-C3N4 performs poor photocatalytic activity due to its high recombination rate of photo-induced charge carriers. Many efforts have been conducted to overcome this limitation in which the semiconductor-semiconductor coupling strategies toward heterojunction formation were considered as the easiest but the most effective method. Herein, a one-pot solid-state reaction of thiourea and sodium molybdate as precursors at different temperatures under N2 gas was applied for preparing composites of MoS2/g-C3N4. The physicochemical characterization of the final products determines the variation in contents of components (MoS2 and g-C3N4) via the increase of synthesis temperature. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of the MoS2/g-C3N4 composites was evaluated by the degradation of Rhodamine B in an aqueous solution under visible light. Therein, composites synthesized at 500 °C showed the best photocatalytic performance with a degradation efficiency of 90%, much higher than that of single g-C3N4. The significant improvement in photocatalytic performance is attributed to the enhancement in light-harvesting and extension in photo-induced charge carriers' lifetime of composites which are originated from the synergic effect between the components. Besides, the photocatalytic mechanism is demonstrated to well-fit into the S-scheme pathway with apparent evidences.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) XRD patterns; (b) FT-IR spectra; (c) Raman spectra; and (d) TG–DTA curves of CN-500, and MCN-T (T = 450, 500, 550, and 600).
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a, b) FE-SEM; and (c, d) HR-TEM images of MCN-500; FE-SEM images of (e) MCN-600; and (f) CN-500; EDS mapping images of (g) mapping area, (g1) carbon, (g2) nitrogen, (g3) sulfur, and (g4) molybdenum.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) C1s; (b) N1s XPS spectra of CN-500 and MCN-T; (c) Mo3d; and (d) S2p XPS spectra of composites MCN-T (T = 450, 500, 550, and 600).
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a) Photocatalytic activity on RhB degradation; and (b) kinetic analysis of CN-500 and MCN-T; Photoluminescence (PL) spectra of CN-500 and MCN-500; and Nyquist plots of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) of CN-500 and MCN-T (T = 450, 500, 550, and 600).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Mott–Schottky plots of (a) MCN-600, (b) CN-500; and (c) MCN-500; (d) schematic diagram of band alignment of heterojunction and S-scheme charge transfer on interface of MoS2 and g-C3N4.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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