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A swift chemical route to synthesize Co-doped SnO 2 nanopowders is described. Pure andcrystalline nanoparticles were synthesized, with mean grain sizes < 5 nm and the dopant element homogeneously distributed in substitutional sites of the SnO 2 matrix. The UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectra of the Sn 1-x Co x O 2- samples reveal red shifts, the optical bandgap energies decreasing with increasing Co concentration. The samples' Urbach energies were calculated and correlated with their bandgap energies. The photocatalytic activity of the Sn 1-x Co x O 2- samples was investigated for the 4-hydroxylbenzoic acid (4-HBA) degradation process. A complete photodegradation of a 10 ppm 4-HBA solution was achieved using 0.02% (w/w) of Sn 0.95 Co 0.05 O 2- nanoparticles in 60 min of irradiation.

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Highlights• New Bi 2 S 3 -ZnS/TNF nanocomposite materials with different layouts were prepared• The ability of the Bi 2 S 3 -ZnS/TNF samples to produce hydroxyl radical was studied • The samples' adsorption/photocatalytic activity for MB removal was investigated • The co-sensitized Bi 2 S 3 ZnS/TNF sample is the best adsorbent/photocatalyst ABSTRACT The synthesis of nanocomposite materials combining titanate nanofibers (TNF) with nanocrystalline ZnS and Bi 2 S 3 semiconductors is described in this work. The TNF were produced via hydrothermal synthesis and sensitized with the semiconductor nanoparticles, through a single-source precursor decomposition method. ZnS and Bi 2 S 3 nanoparticles were successfully grown onto the TNF's surface and Bi 2 S 3 -ZnS/TNF nanocomposite materials with different layouts. The samples' photocatalytic performance was first evaluated through the production of the hydroxyl radical using terephthalic acid as probe molecule. All the tested samples show photocatalytic ability for the production of this oxidizing species. Afterwards, the samples were investigated for the removal of methylene blue. The nanocomposite materials with best adsorption ability were the ZnS/TNF and Bi 2 S 3 ZnS/TNF. The dye removal was systematically studied, and the most promising results were obtained considering a Present address: Istituto per lo Studio delle Macromolecole, a sequential combination of an adsorption-photocatalytic degradation process using the Bi 2 S 3 ZnS/TNF powder as a highly adsorbent and photocatalyst material.

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