In this research, visible-light photocatalytic activities of CuInS 2 nanoparticles for degradation of three organic dyes (rhodamine B; RhB, methylene blue; MB, and methyl orange; MO) were investigated. The CuInS 2 nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple and rapid microwave heating process using sodium sulfide as a sulfur source and then characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS) techniques. The synthesized CuInS 2 nanoparticles exhibited excellent photocatalytic degradation activity to the cationic dyes (RhB and MB) when compared with that of anionic dye (MO). Zeta potential of the CuInS 2 photocatalyst was measured to elucidate the adsorption ability toward dye molecules. A possible photocatalytic degradation mechanism was proposed based on active species quenching experiments and Mott-Schottky analysis.
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