In situ topotactic fabrication of ZnS nanosheet by using ZnAl- layered double hydroxide template for enhanced tetracycline pollutant degradation activity

Abstract

In this work, novel ZnS nanosheet was synthesized by using ZnAl-layered double hydroxide template for UV-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline pollutant. The morphology, structure and UV light capacity of the obtained materials were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, HRTEM, EDS, FT-IR, UV–vis DRS, XPS, EIS Nyquist plots and PL spectrum, respectively. The results demonstrated that the as-synthesized ZnS nanosheet maintained layered structure and revealed the better photocatalytic activity than that of other materials toward tetracycline pollutant. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency of tetracycline pollutant was 85.73% under UV light irradiation using 500 W mercury lamp in 80 min, which was 1.53 times higher than that of pure ZnS microspheres. Besides, the as-prepared ZnS nanosheet exhibited higher stability and reusability after four runs. Eventually, a possible photodegradation mechanism was presented according to free radical trapping experiment. In addition, this work provided some references for the synthesis of related new photocatalytic materials.