Higher photocatalytic removal of organic pollutants using pangolin-like composites made of 3–4 atomic layers of MoS2 nanosheets deposited on tourmaline

Environmental pollution by organic pollutants is a serious concern which may be solved by photocatalytic degradation of pollutants, yet the efficiency of actual photocatalytic materials is limited. For instance, conventional MoS 2 nanosheets tend to agglomerate, which hinders the access of pollutant...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental chemistry letters 2021-10, Vol.19 (5), p.3573-3582
Main Authors: Hao, Ming, Li, Hao, Cui, Li, Liu, Wei, Fang, Baizeng, Liang, Jinsheng, Xie, Xinlei, Wang, Dongxu, Wang, Fei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Analytical Chemistry
Catalysts
Chemical synthesis
Density functional theory
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecotoxicology
Environment
Environmental Chemistry
Environmental degradation
Epitaxial growth
Geochemistry
Hydrothermal crystal growth
Microspheres
Molybdenum disulfide
Morphology
Nanosheets
Original Paper
Photocatalysis
Photodegradation
Pollutant removal
Pollutants
Pollution
Rhodamine
Single crystals
Thickness
Tourmaline
Two dimensional materials
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Summary:Environmental pollution by organic pollutants is a serious concern which may be solved by photocatalytic degradation of pollutants, yet the efficiency of actual photocatalytic materials is limited. For instance, conventional MoS 2 nanosheets tend to agglomerate, which hinders the access of pollutants to active sites. To overcome this challenge, we hypothesized that assembling MoS 2 nanosheets on a mineral support would improve access to active sites. We synthesized a catalyst made of 3–4 atomic layers of MoS 2 nanosheets deposited on tourmaline using a microwave hydrothermal method. Results show that tourmaline occurs as a polyhedron single crystal that supports the epitaxial growth of 2H-MoS 2 layers on tourmaline (77 3 ¯ ) facets, while an intrinsic rolling up behavior of MoS 2 layer from [002] to [106] on the mineral surface accounts for the curly morphology. The pangolin-like MoS 2 /tourmaline composite degrades rhodamine B much better than the pure MoS 2 nanosheets assembled microspheres. This is explained by the reduced thickness of MoS 2 nanosheets according to the density functional theory. Overall, our findings represent a new tactic for the cost-effective batch preparation of two-dimensional materials with high catalytic performance.
ISSN:1610-3653
1610-3661
DOI:10.1007/s10311-021-01235-6