Solar light driven enhanced photocatalytic degradation of brilliant green dye based on ZnS quantum dots

Herein, we report the successful synthesis, detailed characterization and solar-light driven photocatalytic degradation of zinc sulfide (ZnS) quantum dots. The ZnS quantum dots were synthesized in high yield by co-precipitation method using sodium dodecyl sulfate as a stabilizing agent. The as-synthesized ZnS quantum dots were characterized in detail in terms of their morphological, structural, compositional, thermal and optical properties. The detailed characterizations confirmed that the synthesized quantum dots are well-crystalline, possessing cubic phase of zinc blende structure, pure and exhibiting good optical properties. The synthesized quantum dots were further used as potential photocatalyst for the photocatalytic degradation of brilliant green dye under solar-light irradiation which exhibited 88% degradation. The process parameters, such as pH and catalyst dose, for the photocatalytic degradation of brilliant green dye was elaborately examined in order to evaluate the highest degradation rate of targeted dye. Further, the experimental data were fitted well in the pseudo-first order kinetic model. Finally, a possible mechanism for the photocatalytic degradation of brilliant green dye by ZnS quantum dots was also suggested.