We describe experiments that explore the use of nanosize MoS2 semiconductors for catalyzing the
photooxidation of an organic chemical, phenol. The band gap of nanoscale MoS2 can be tuned across the
visible spectrum and we show that d = 4.5 nm MoS2 which has an absorbance edge near 550 nm photooxidizes
phenol using only visible light (>450 nm) while smaller band gap d = 8−10 nm MoS2 or wide band gap
Degussa P-25 TiO2 do not. The possibility of increasing the rate of photooxidation of phenol by deposition
of nanoclusters of MoS2 on bulk semiconductor powders is investigated. It is shown that small amounts (<5
wt %) of nanoscale MoS2 deposited onto TiO2 can lead to significant (∼2-fold) enhancements of phenol
destruction rates compared to TiO2 by itself.
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