Synthesis of SnS and ZnS Hollow Microarchitectures Decorated with Nanostructures and Their Photocatalytic Behavior for Dye Degradation

Abstract

SnS and ZnS hollow microarchitectures decorated with nanostructures were synthesized by catalysis free thermal evaporation technique using metal microwires and sulfur powder as starting materials. For SnS, we observed a microtube formation comprised of a thin metallic Sn layer in the inner surface, SnS orthorhombic structure thick layer with SnS nanostructures on the top. For ZnS, we found out the formation of hollow sphere with a thin metallic layer in the inner part, a thick cubic phase layer of ZnS, and on this second phase, nanostructures of ZnS hexagonal crystal phase grew up homogeneously. The surface tension, intrinsic to liquids, induces the formation of a microsphere in ZnS sample in order to minimize the surface area. ZnS and SnS hollow semiconducting microstructures have exhibited efficient activity to degrade the methylene blue under simulated sunlight irradiation. The results reveal that ZnS microstructures have higher photoactivity to organic degradation when compare to SnS in the same time interval. The observed results demonstrate the potential of thermal evaporation process without any catalyst material as a simple, fast and efficient route to obtain hollow hierarchically micro/nano architectures of SnS and ZnS with enhanced photocatalytic activity.

Synthesis and Study of the Thermally Stable Poly(arylene ether ketone) Nanohybrids Containing Cadmium Selenide Nanocrystals

“…Now they have been extensively studied for their drastic changes in most properties dependent on the nanocrystal size due to quantum confinement and the wild uses in chemical, optoelectronic devices, solar cells and biomedical fields. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Recently, the fabrication and development of highly dispersed inorganic nanocrystals into organic polymer matrix have gained importance due to the enhanced materials properties. [9][10][11][12] This kind of nanohybrid material combines the unique chemical and optical properties of quantum dots and the own characteristic features of polymer matrix.…”

Nanostructured Hematite Decorated with Gold Nanoparticles for Functionalization and Biocompatibility

“…The limitation for applying the Kirkendall effect for the synthesis of microhollow materials was circumvented by combining thermal oxidation with the passage of electric current that allowed the fabrication of hierarchically structured microwires and tubes of semiconductors decorated with nanostructures . Therefore, the successful fabrication of hollow materials of TiO 2 and hematite as well as SnS microtubes and ZnS hollow microspheres decorated with nanostructures was achieved. Antiferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic microtubes decorated with nanowires were fabricated by thermal oxidation combined with the passage of electrical current using iron microwires as the starting material.…”

“…The highly rough surface of microtubes provided by the presence of nanowires permitted the survival and spreading on the surface of the material. SnS microtubes and ZnS hollow microspheres decorated with nanostructures presented efficient capacity to promote methylene blue photodegradation . Considering the characteristics of the semiconductor hollow materials, in this study, we took advantage of the photoreducing properties of semiconductors to produce gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to decorate the material surface.…”