Preparation and improved photocatalytic activity of mesoporous WS2 using combined hydrothermal-evaporation induced self-assembly method

•One-step method for synthesis of mesoporous WS2 was proposed.•Role of CTAB surfactant on formation of mesoporous WS2 was elucidated.•Possible growth mechanism of the mesoporous structure is also reported.•0.1 wt% mesoporous WS2 catalyst exhibited high photocatalytic activity under UV light.

In this paper, we report mesoporous WS2 nanosheets with a crystalline network that were synthesized using CTAB as a structure-directing agent via self-assembly induced by hydrothermal and thermal evaporation. Powder X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra, and high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results confirmed the formation of WS2 structures. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy were used to observe the as-prepared mesoporous frameworks. The mesoporous WS2 nanosheets have a surface area of 197 m2 g−1. A possible growth mechanism is reported for these mesoporous WS2 nanosheets. The mesoporous WS2 nanosheets demonstrate high photocatalytic activity. Among different concentrations, 0.1 wt% mesoporous WS2 shows superior catalytic activity compared to pristine WS2 nanosheets.

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