SnS2 nanosheet-based microstructures with high adsorption capabilities and visible light photocatalytic activities

Abstract

The engineering of semiconductors with high adsorption and visible light-driven photocatalytic activity is of growing interest in the removal of environmental pollutants. Herein, SnS₂ nanosheet-based microstructures of flower-like, nanosheet-like, nest-like and nanoplate-like morphologies with high adsorption capacities and visible light photocatalytic activities were experimentally achieved by a facile solution-phase approach based on a simple reaction of SnCl₄·5H₂O and three hydration sodium diethyldithiocarbamate (C₅H₁₀NS₂Na·3H₂O) in a solvent of ethylene glycol with or without the addition of acetic acid, where C₅H₁₀NS₂Na·3H₂O served as both a sulfur source and a coordination agent. The negatively charged nature of the as-prepared SnS₂ products is responsible for the superior absorptive and visible light photocatalytic performances of cationic dyes. The revelation of the charged nature of the surface of SnS₂ nanosheet-based microstructures leads to a new possibility for the design of adsorptive photocatalysts.