Nano Research & Applications

In-Situ Synthesis of Nanostructured Tio₂-Zns Composite with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

For the first time, we report the single step in-situ synthesis of hierarchical TiO₂-ZnS nanostructure (TiO₂ sphere wrapped with ZnS nanorods) for photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B under UV light irradiation. In the typical synthesis, titanium oxysulfate and zinc nitrate hexahydrate were used as precursor materials for TiO₂ and ZnS, respectively whereas dimethyl formamide and distilled water used as solvents. The content of ZnS and TiO₂ in TiO₂- ZnS composite was controlled by tuning the concentration of respective precursor materials in the solution. Assynthesize materials was centrifuged and washed with distilled water several times. Finally, the sample was cured at 500°C in an electrical furnace under air atmosphere. Morphology and microstructure of the synthesized materials were characterized by field emission scanning electron and transmission electron microscopes. Crystallinity and structural properties were investigated with the help of X-ray diffraction study. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic characterization was performed to observe the oxidation states of the constituent elements present in the sample. Moreover, the optical properties of the samples were analyzed systematically. Finally, all the materials and optical properties were correlated with the photocatalytic activity of the materials. It was noted that hierarchical structured TiO₂-ZnS sample showed around 1.5 times higher photocatalytic activity towards rhodamine B degradation compared to pristine TiO₂ under UV light irradiation. This work could make an avenue for the synthesis of other multicomponent efficient photocatalyst.

Author(s): Srikrishna Samanta, Hasmat Khan, Malobi Seth and Sunirmal Jana*

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