Thiourea assisted hydrothermal synthesis of ZnS/CdS/Ag2S nanocatalysts for photocatalytic degradation of Congo red under direct sunlight illumination

Abstract

Solar light active ternary ZnS/CdS/Ag₂S nanocatalysts have been synthesized via a hydrothermal process. The crystal structure, optical, morphological and surface area of the catalyst are characterized by XRD, UV DRS, PL, FE-SEM and BET measurements. The ternary catalyst has a decreased band gap energy value compared to that of the ZnS semiconductor. The catalyst was scrutinized for its catalytic performance under direct sunlight towards the degradation of a textile dye – Congo red at different time intervals. The results confirm that the Ag₂S incorporated ternary ZnS/CdS/Ag₂S nanocatalyst has good photocatalytic performance under direct sunlight when compared to binary and mono semiconductor systems.