Synthesis and Photocatalysis of AL Doped CdS Templated by Non-Surfactant Hypocrellins

Non-surfactant hypocrellins (Hys) is a kind of photosensitizer with strong and broad absorption in visible light region, obtained by isolating from the fungus sacs of hypocrella bambusae. Previous studies have not yet addressed the use of hypocrellins as non-surfactant template in the synthesis of photocatalyst CdS, let alone the achievement of higher efficient photocatalytic activity than Degussa P25. Herein Al doped CdS prepared by using hypocrellins as template (Al-CdS/Hys) can enhance the photocatalytic activity while Al doped CdS without template (Al-CdS) prepared by conventional solvothermal method reduced the photocatalytic activity. Al-CdS/Hys was synthesized and characterized by a combination of various physicochemical techniques, such as XRD, nitrogen adsorption/desorption, diffuse reflectance UV–vis and TEM. Al-CdS/Hys is even more efficient than Degussa P25 for the degradation of organic dye, basic fuchsin under artificial solar irradiation. Moreover, doping Al increased the surface area of CdS to169.1 m2 g–1.