Synthesis of MoS2/MoO3 nano-heterojunction towards enhanced photocatalytic activity under LED light irradiation via in situ oxidation sintering

Abstract

The MoS₂/MoO₃ nano-heterojunction photocatalyst was synthesized via the in situ oxidation sintering method. The properties of the samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX, TEM, UV-vis, PL, FT-IR, BET and electrochemical techniques. The MoS₂/MoO₃ nano-heterojunction (MS-400) exhibited significantly better photocatalytic activity toward Rhodamine B degradation (0.42634 h⁻¹) than monomer MoS₂ (∼8.0-folds) and MoO₃ (∼25.6-folds). This is mainly attributed to the MoS₂/MoO₃ heterojunction interface having an appropriate potential gradient that can promote the interface carrier transportation/separation to optimize the carrier efficiency and increase the solar absorption and specific surface areas/active sites via microstructures.