Enhanced photocatalytic activity and synthesis of ZnO nanorods/MoS2 composites

A stable and recyclable organic degradation catalyst based on MoS2 functionalized ZnO nanorods was introduced. ZnO nanorods were synthesized on the glass substrates (2 cm*2 cm) by sol-gel method and hydrothermal method and functionalized with MoS2 via an argon flow annealing method. The structure and morphology of the as-prepared samples were characterized by XRD, SEM and TEM. Results showed that a small amount of MoS2 was successfully wrapped on the surfaces of ZnO nanorods. XPS analyses showed the existence of Zn-S between ZnO and MoS2, indicating that the MoS2 was combined with ZnO through chemical bonds and formed the ZnO/MoS2 heterostructure. PL results revealed that ZnO/MoS2 had lower fluorescence spectra indicating an electron transport channel between ZnO and MoS2 which separated electrons and holes. Photocatalytic experiment showed that ZnO/MoS2 composites showed a better photodegradation performance of Rhodamine B (RhB) after functionalized with MoS2 under the UV light irradiation which could be attributed to the separation and transfer of photogenerated electrons and holes between ZnO and MoS2. Meanwhile, the high active adsorption sites on the edges of MoS2 also accelerated the degradation process. Furthermore, the scavengers were used to investigate the major active species and results indicated that h+ was the major reactive species for the degradation.