Facile Solvothermal Synthesis of Novel CuCo2S4/g-C3N4 Nanocomposites for Visible-Light Photocatalytic Applications

Abstract

In this work, we synthesized a series of CuCo2S4/g-C3N4 (CSC) nanocomposites by a facile solvothermal approach using D-penicillamine as sulphur source. The phase structure, morphology, chemical composition, and optical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–vis DRS). The photocatalytic activities of the synthesized CSC nanocomposites were evaluated using degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye under visible-light irradiation. The light absorption capacity and photocatalytic activity of CuCo2S4 were enhanced by the successful incorporation with g-C3N4. The nanocomposite with 30% loading of g-C3N4 in CuCo2S4 exhibited maximum degradation efficiency compared to the pure CuCo2S4 towards the degradation of MB dye under the light irradiation. A possible mechanism for enhanced photocatalytic activity towards the pollutant degradation by the nanocomposites was proposed.