Fabrication and photocatalytic properties of Cu2S/T-ZnOw heterostructures via simple polyol process

The Cu2S/tetrapod-like ZnO whisker (T-ZnOw) heterostructures were successfully synthesized via a simple polyol process employing the poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) as a surfactant. The as-prepared heterostructures were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). The photocatalytic properties of Cu2S/T-ZnOw nanocomposites synthesized with different PVP concentrations were evaluated by photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) under UV irradiation. The results show that the Cu2S/T-ZnOw nanocomposites exhibit remarkable improved photocatalytic property compared with the pure T-ZnOw. The sample prepared with 3.0 g/L PVP shows an excellent photocatalytic property and the highest photodegradation rate of MO is 97% after UV irradiation for 120 min. Besides, the photocatalytic activity of the photocatalyst has no evident decrease even after four cycles, which demonstrates that the Cu2S/T-ZnOw photocatalyst exhibits an excellent photostability. Moreover, the photocatalytic mechanism of the Cu2S/T-ZnOw nanocomposites was also discussed.