Construction of a ternary hybrid of CdS nanoparticles loaded on mesoporous-TiO2/RGO for the enhancement of photocatalytic activity

Abstract

We successfully fabricated a ternary hybrid of meso-TiO₂/RGO/CdS via an efficient electrostatic self-assembly approach and photo-assisted treatment. In the illumination process, GO nanosheets were reduced to RGO and simultaneously, CdS nanoparticles were uniformly loaded onto the surface of the meso-TiO₂/RGO. Compared with bare meso-TiO₂ (unitary component) and meso-TiO₂/RGO (binary components), the ternary meso-TiO₂/RGO/CdS exhibited superior photocatalytic activity and stability. In the experiment of the degradation of methylene orange (MO) in the presence of simulated solar light, the ternary hybrid showed the highest degradation rate (0.0228 min⁻¹), which was almost 2 and 17 times the degradation rate of meso-TiO₂/RGO and meso-TiO₂, respectively. This enhanced photoactivity is ascribed to the synergistic effect of meso-TiO₂, RGO and CdS, including a relatively high surface area, extension of the absorption spectrum range and the highly efficient separation and transfer rate of the charge carriers. The establishment of a ternary hybrid thus provides a promising way to improve the performance of photocatalysts.