The Photocatalytic Application of Semiconductor Stibnite Nanostructure Synthesized via a Simple Microwave-Assisted Approach in Propylene Glycol for Degradation of Dye Pollutants and its Optical Property

Abstract

Stibnite (Sb2S3) semiconducting material was successfully synthesized by a rapid and facile microwave route using antimony chloride (SbCl3) and sodiumthiosulfate (Na2S2O3) dissolved in propylene glycol (PG) containing different hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) masses. The phase identification, morphology, and elemental composition of products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field- emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results revealed the orthorhombic phase of Sb2S3 single crystal-forming sheaf-like nanostructure, and a possible formation mechanism was proposed and discussed. Its direct band gap calculated from UV-visible absorption is 1.60 eV. In this research, the photocatalytic activities of Sb2S3 nanostructure were investigated through the degradation of methyl orange (MO) and methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation. The as-obtained 0.30 g HEC-added solution (0.3 HEC-Sb2S3) photocatalyst exhibited better photocatalytic activity than the other products, which degraded 91% of MO within 300 min and 90% of MB within 240 min under the Xe-lamp irradiation. The first-order plot was fitted with this experiment which the rate constant (k) of 0.3 HEC-Sb2S3 for MO and MB degradation are 0.0085 and 0.0098 min−1, respectively. Therefore, the new experience with a novel and simple synthetic procedure of Sb2S3 photocatalyst that exhibits the characteristics of a highly effective photocatalyst under visible light irradiation was discovered.

Effect of Zinc Acetate Concentration on Optimization of Photocatalytic Activity of p-Co3O4/n-ZnO Heterostructures

“…The second way of improvement of photo-catalytic activity is caused by the high-specific surface area of the p -Co 3 O 4 / n -ZnO heterostructures. The molecules’ absorption-desorption on the surface of catalyst is the first step in degradation process [ 54 , 62 ]. Consequently, higher surface-to-volume ratio in the developed morphology of p -Co 3 O 4 / n -ZnO heterostructures provides more unsaturated surface coordination sites, as shown in Table 2 .…”

Selective and Recyclable Congo Red Dye Adsorption by Spherical Fe3O4 Nanoparticles Functionalized with 1,2,4,5-Benzenetetracarboxylic Acid

“…In recent times, porous metal oxides have been recognized as excellent solid adsorbents for wastewater treatment owing to their high surface area and the presence of sufficient active surface sites [25][26][27][28] . Among various metal oxides, Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles (NPs) are drawing considerable attention due to their unique properties such as excellent biocompatibility, low synthetic cost, ease of functionalization, and high magnetic susceptibility leading to easy magnetic recovery [29][30][31][32][33][34] . Owing to the negatively charged surface, bare Fe 3 O 4 NPs have been shown as dye absorbents in many reports [35][36][37] ; however, its applicability is limited due to low adsorption capacity and poor selectivity and recyclability.…”

Wafer-Scale Fabrication of Sub-10 nm TiO2-Ga2O3 n-p Heterojunctions with Efficient Photocatalytic Activity by Atomic Layer Deposition

“…Moreover, the higher-specific surface area fabricated after annealing may additionally improve the overall photocatalytic activity of 2D TiO 2 -Ga 2 O 3 n-p heterostructures. The absorption and desorption of molecules on the surface of the catalyst is the first step in the degradation process [46, 47]. Thus, higher surface-to-volume ratio in the surface morphology of the TiO 2 -Ga 2 O 3 n-p heterostructures provides more unsaturated surface coordination sites.…”