Architecture of visible-light induced Z-scheme MoS2/g-C3N4/ZnO ternary photocatalysts for malachite green dye degradation

Madhushree R; Jadan Resnik Jaleel Uc; Dephan Pinheiro; Renuka Nk; Sunaja Devi Kr; Juhyeon Park; Sivakumar Manickam; Myong Yong Choi

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2022.113742

Architecture of visible-light induced Z-scheme MoS₂/g-C₃N₄/ZnO ternary photocatalysts for malachite green dye degradation

Environ Res. 2022 Nov;214(Pt 1):113742. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.113742. Epub 2022 Jun 24.

Authors

Madhushree R¹, Jadan Resnik Jaleel Uc¹, Dephan Pinheiro¹, Renuka Nk², Sunaja Devi Kr³, Juhyeon Park⁴, Sivakumar Manickam⁵, Myong Yong Choi⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, 560029, Karnataka, India.
² Department of Chemistry, University of Calicut, Kerala, 673635, India.
³ Department of Chemistry, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, 560029, Karnataka, India. Electronic address: sunajadevi.kr@christuniversity.in.
⁴ Core-Facility Center for Photochemistry & Nanomaterials, Department of Chemistry, Research Institute of Natural Sciences, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, 52828, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Brunei, Jalan Tungku Link Gadong, Bandar Seri Begawan, BE1410, Brunei Darussalam.
⁶ Core-Facility Center for Photochemistry & Nanomaterials, Department of Chemistry, Research Institute of Natural Sciences, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, 52828, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: mychoi@gnu.ac.kr.

PMID: 35753376
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.113742

Abstract

The synthesis of bilayer heterojunctions has received considerable attention recently. Fabrication of novel bilayer composites is of significant interest to improve their photocatalytic efficiency. In this study, molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂), a layered dichalcogenide material exhibiting unique properties, in combination with graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄), a carbon-based layered material, was fabricated with small amounts of zinc oxide (ZnO). Three composites, MoS₂/g-C₃N₄, MoS₂/ZnO, and MoS₂/g-C₃N₄/ZnO were prepared via a simple exfoliation method and characterized by various physicochemical methods. The Z-scheme charge transfer mechanism in the prepared ternary composite improves efficiency by inhibiting the recombination rate of electron-hole pairs. It has shown excellent performance in degrading a major water contaminant, malachite green (MG) dye, under visible light irradiation.

Keywords: Dye degradation; Exfoliation; Molybdenum disulfide; Nanocomposite; Photocatalysis; Water pollution.