Fabrication of Cd1−xZnxS/TiO2 heterostructures with enhanced photocatalytic activity

• Cd1−xZnxS/TiO2 heterostructures were prepared via the combination of electrospinning technique and hydrothermal method.
• For comparison, CdS/TiO2 heterostructures, TiO2 nanofibers and Cd1−xZnxS nanoparticles were prepared.
• Cd1−xZnxS/TiO2 heterostructures exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity among the as-prepared samples.
• The mechanism for the enhanced photocatalytic performance of Cd1−xZnxS/TiO2 heterostructures was discussed.
• A transformation model of photogenerated electron and hole pairs was introduced.

Hierarchical Cd1−xZnxS/TiO2 heterostructures were successfully synthesized by the combination of an electrospinning technique and hydrothermal method. These heterostructures were characterized for the morphological, structural and optical properties by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectrum (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) and UV–visible (UV–vis) diffused reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The photocatalytic investigations showed that the Cd1−xZnxS/TiO2 heterostructures possessed enhanced photocatalytic efficiency in photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation (degradation efficiency reaches 91% during 60 min), compared with the pristine TiO2 nanofibers (26.5%), hierarchical CdS/TiO2 heterostructures (81.6%), Cd1−xZnxS/P25 composites (77.8%) and pure Cd1−xZnxS nanoparticles (77.3%). The enhanced photocatalytic performance can be ascribed to the beneficial microstructure and synergistic effects of coupled Cd1−xZnxS/TiO2 heterostructures.

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