Engineering crystal planes and band structure of 2D tin sulfide nanosheets and investigating their photocatalytic degradation performance

Abstract

2D tin sulfide with adjustable dual crystal plane and band gap was synthesized by one-step hydrothermal method and applied for effective photodegradation of organic pollutants. The as-synthesized SnS₂ showed a peony flower-like structure composed of 2D nanosheets. UV-vis spectra showed that the introduction of N can extend the light absorption range to the visible region. Compared with pristine SnS₂, the as-prepared SnS₂ exhibited better photodegradation performance for rhodamine B removal under simulated sunlight irradiation; after 120 min, the removal rate could reach 94.5%. Transient photocurrent, photoluminescence, and UV-vis spectra show that this superior photocatalytic performance is due to the effective separation of photo induced carriers and the enhancement of light absorption. According to the active free radical capture experiments, a possible mechanism was proposed, which explained the reason for the enhancement of photocatalytic ability. The results show that SnS₂ is a highly effective and metal-free photocatalyst for the removal of pollutants from wastewater. Our research provides a novel idea for the synthesis of SnS₂ materials with effective removal of environmental pollutants.