One-pot controlled synthesis of sea-urchin shaped Bi2S3/CdS hierarchical heterostructures with excellent visible light photocatalytic activity

Abstract

In this study, sea-urchin shaped Bi₂S₃/CdS hierarchical heterostructures are successfully synthesized via a convenient one-pot growth rate controlled route. The product is mainly composed of Bi₂S₃ nanorods and CdS nanoparticles grown on their surfaces. The formation mechanism was proposed based on the evolution of morphology as a function of solvothermal time, which involves fast formation of the initial sea-urchin shaped Bi₂S₃ nanoflowers, followed by the gradual growth of numerous CdS nanoparticles on Bi₂S₃ nanoflowers. The effects of CdS in the composites on their microstructures, optical absorption properties, and photocatalytic activity were investigated comparatively. Due to the synergetic effects between hierarchical Bi₂S₃ nanoflowers and CdS nanoparticles, the obtained Bi₂S₃/CdS hierarchical heterostructures exhibit superior catalytic activity over the independent components. Furthermore, the obtained Bi₂S₃/CdS hierarchical heterostructure composite shows a strong structure-induced enhancement of the photocatalytic performance for the photodegradation of rhodamine B.