Structural evolution from CuS nanoflowers to Cu₉S₅ nanosheets and their applications in environmental pollution removal and photothermal conversion

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) CuS nanoflowers and 2D single crystalline Cu9S5 nanosheets with irregular hexagonal holes had been successfully synthesized by easily hydrothermal treating the solution of copper dichloride dihydrates and thiourea at 180 o C for several hours without any surfactants and morphology-controlled agents. Irregularly hexagonal holes were widely distributed over the Cu9S5 nanosheets, which could efficiently enlarge the surface area. The UV-Vis-NIR absorption spectroscopy showed an obvious increase of the near-IR absorbance. The influence of the reaction time, morphology, and crystal phase on the photocatalysis and photothermal conversion was discussed. The results revealed that CuS nanoflowers displayed the maximum removal value of rhodamine B by 67%. The Cu9S5 nanosheets obtained with the increase reaction time displayed adsorption and photo-degradation decrease for RhB. The exposure of the aqueous dispersion of the Cu9S5 nanosheets prepared with 6 h (2.0 g/L) under the irradiation of 980 nm laser can increase its temperature by 25.1 o C in 600 s, exhibiting a good photothermal conversion performance. The photothermal efficacy increases with the samples obtained from 1 h to 18 h.

From CdS to Cu7 S4 Nanorods via a Cation Exchange Route and Their Applications: Environmental Pollution Removal, Photothermal Conversion and Light-Induced Water Evaporation

“…The strong NIR absorbance of the as‐synthesized samples should be mainly attributed to the localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) which depend on the relatively high carrier (holes) concentration. The samples have strong free carrier absorption as p‐type semiconductor, which is characteristic of copper sulfide and similar to our previous works …”

“…The performance of photocatalytic, photothermal conversion and water evaporation of copper chalcogenides could immensely be influenced by the crystalline phases, sizes and morphologies, which result in tremendous attention on the fabrication of nanostructured copper sulfides with different sizes and morphologies. A variety of physical and chemical routes have been used to prepare different shapes of nanoscale dimension copper sulfide, including nanosheets, nanorods, nanowires, nanofibrous, nanoflowers, nanoflakes, hollow spheres and nanotubes, etc. Over various methods of fabrication nanomaterials, cation exchange route has received an increasing attention, which has emerged as an interesting alternative and useful technique to fabricate new ionic nanocrystals with diverse compositions, crystal structure and morphology.…”

Plasmonic Cu9S5 Nanonets for Microwave Absorption

“…Cu 9 S 5 nanonets were prepared from CuCl 2 ·2H 2 O as the copper resource and thiourea as the sulfur resource by using a facile hydrothermal route, as reported in our previous work and illustrated in Figure . Typically, 10 mL of aqueous solution containing 0.1 g of CuCl 2 ·2H 2 O and 10 mL of aqueous solution containing 0.02 g of thiourea were mixed together.…”

“…Specifically, the quantum size effects could cause semiconductors with splitting of the electron energy band where the transitions within the band could approach to the microwave energy and lead to absorption of microwave energy. , The rich pool of semiconductors, including TiO 2 , ,,− g -C 3 N 4 , FeP, Mn x O y , , ZnO, SiO 2 , Fe x O y , and Cu 2– x S, ,− offers plenty of choices for possible materials candidates. Because of the highly self-doped feature, copper chalcogenide Cu 2– x S is attractive for its outstanding plasmonic properties in long-wavelength absorption and free electron movements in its various solid phases ranging from copper-rich Cu 2 S to copper-poor CuS, e.g., Cu 2 S, Cu 1.75 S, Cu 1.8 S, − Cu 1.96 S, and CuS. , …”

Interfacial Solar Vapor Generation: Introducing Students to Experimental Procedures and Analysis for Efficiently Harvesting Energy and Generating Vapor at the Air–Water Interface

“…On the other hand, the utilization of solar energy has gained a great deal of attention because of the increasing awareness of the importance of renewable energies, − and some experiments have already been adopted in undergraduate chemistry and materials science curricula. − For instance, Choi et al used nanosized TiO 2 photocatalysts to teach students to understand the concept of photocatalytic water splitting . Schuttlefield Christus et al.…”