Synthesis of rGO@ZnS nanocomposites for visible light assisted high photocatalytic performance

Abstract

ZnS nanobelts and ZnS@reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposites were synthesized via simple solvothermal treatments. The chemical composition, structure and optical properties of ZnS nanobelts and ZnS@rGO nanocomposites samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman Spectroscopy and FESEM, UV-visible spectroscopy. We have used UV-Visible absorption spectra to find the optical band gap of prepared ZnS nanobelts and ZnS@rGO nanocomposites, direct bandgap of pure ZnS is 2.70 eV and that in case of ZnS@rGO is about 2.59 eV. The bandgap of pure ZnS nanostructure differ significantly from bulk ZnS due to the quantum confinement effect in nanostructure. ZnS nanostructure and ZnS@rGO nanocomposites were used as a photocatalyst for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation.