One-Pot Hydrothermal Synthesis of Visible-Light-Responsive MoS2/g-CNO Heterostructures for Organic-Pollutant Degradation

Abstract

© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, WeinheimMoS2/g-CNO (g-CNO = oxidized graphitic carbon nitride) heterostructures were synthesized by a one-step low-temperature hydrothermal route. The hydrolysis and oxidation reactions during the hydrothermal synthesis provide a fivefold increase in the surface area of the carbon nitride matrix. The heterostructure formation between MoS2 and the g-CNO matrix induced reduced recombination effects, and 1 wt.-% MoS2/g-CNO composites showed the highest photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of organic pollutants under visible-light irradiation. Moreover, owing to the presence of groups with negative inductive effects in g-CNO and g-CNO-based composites, the photocatalytic activities were higher than that of bare g-C3N4. Recyclability studies on the synthesized catalysts indicated no loss of efficiency after four cycles. Thus, these MoS2/g-CNO heterostructures are promising photocatalysts for the degradation of organic pollutants.