MoS2–ZnO nanocomposites for photocatalytic energy conversion and solar applications

Abstract

ZnO is a large-band-gap semiconductor with promising photocatalytic properties. The high bandgap (Egap) of ZnO, on the other hand, restricts its application in solar-driven photocatalysis since it can only respond to UV light that makes up just 5% of the full solar spectrum. Apart from this, it also suffers from the problem of fast charge recombination. During the last few years, great attention has been paid to increase the efficiency of ZnO in solar-driven photocatalysis, by increasing light-harvesting span or charge separation efficiency. It has been reported that when ZnO is coupled with MoS2 (Low Egap semiconductor), its light-harvesting span extends to most of the solar spectrum due to the synergic adsorption of two dissimilar Egap semiconductors. Furthermore, MoS2–ZnO nanocomposites also show decreased charge recombination and fast interfacial charge transfer. In this article, we have reviewed the wide solar applications of MoS2–ZnO nanocomposites and the mechanisms of these photo-induced reactions.