A rapid microwave synthesis route for the fabrication of ZnIn2S4 powder and ZnIn2S4/WS2 composites is presented.

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Photocatalytic applications of flower-like ZnIn2S4/MoS2 composite, synthesized by biomolecule-assisted microwave heating method, in H2 evolution and Cr(vi) reduction reactions.

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.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing is regarded as a critical technology in material engineering for biomedical applications. From a previous report, silk fibroin (SF) has been used as a biomaterial for tissue engineering due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability, non-toxicity and robust mechanical properties which provide a potential as material for 3D-printing. In this study, SF-based hydrogels with different formulations and SF concentrations (1–3%wt) were prepared by natural gelation (SF/self-gelled), sodium tetradecyl sulfate-induced (SF/STS) and dimyristoyl glycerophosphorylglycerol-induced (SF/DMPG). From the results, 2%wt SF-based (2SF) hydrogels showed suitable properties for extrusion, such as storage modulus, shear-thinning behavior and degree of structure recovery. The 4-layer box structure of all 2SF-based hydrogel formulations could be printed without structural collapse. In addition, the mechanical stability of printed structures after three-step post-treatment was investigated. The printed structure of 2SF/STS and 2SF/DMPG hydrogels exhibited high stability with high degree of structure recovery as 70.4% and 53.7%, respectively, compared to 2SF/self-gelled construct as 38.9%. The 2SF/STS and 2SF/DMPG hydrogels showed a great potential to use as material for 3D-printing due to its rheological properties, printability and structure stability.

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