Facile synthesis of ZnO flowers modified graphene like MoS2 sheets for enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity and antibacterial properties

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nano flowers uniformly attached to the surface of Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) sheet were successfully prepared via a simple facile one pot hydrothermal method. The morphology and microstructure of the prepared samples was characterized using field - emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area was determined using physical and chemical analyzer. The characterization results showed that the flowers like ZnO micro-structures were uniformly attached to the surface of MoS2. The as-prepared MoS2/ZnO composite showed enhanced photocatalytic activity and considerable stability for the photo degradation of phenol red as compared with pure MoS2 and ZnO under both UV and visible light irradiation. Such an enhancement of photo degradation capability was ascribed to the synergistic effect between the flowers-shaped ZnO particles and sheet-like structure of MoS2, which boost the migration efficiency of photo-induced electrons and hinder electron-hole recombination rate. It was also found that the amount of MoS2 in the composite has a significant effect on the degradation activity. Moreover, the antibacterial activity test towards the gram negative Escherichia-coli showed that the MoS2/ZnO composite has better antibacterial properties compared to pure ZnO and MoS2.