Hydrothermal synthesis of MoS₂/CC composite with enhanced photo-degradation activity and easy recycle property

Molybdenum sulfide (MoS₂) has become popular in the photo-degradation of organic pollutants because of its strong visible light response and environment-friendly nature. Recycling the catalyst and the high recombination of photo-generated carriers remain problematic, hindering its practical application. In this work, MoS₂ nanosheets were vertically grown on carbon cloth (CC) (MoS₂/CC) via the one-step hydrothermal route. The built-in electric field at the MoS₂/CC heterogeneous interface could effectively separate the photon-generated electrons and holes, while prolonging the lifetime of the photon-generated carriers. XRD and XPS show that the pristine MoS₂ naonosheets were successfully grown on the CC. SEM and TEM demonstrated that the as-prepared MoS₂/CC composite exposed as many of the lateral edges of MoS₂ as possible. The lateral edges were the main active sites. The UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectrum showed that the absorption intensity of as-prepared MoS₂/CC composite was higher than the pristine MoS₂ in the visible light region. The photo-degradation experiments confirmed that the photo-catalytic activity of the as-prepared MoS₂/CC composition is higher than pristine MoS₂. The circulation photo-degradation experiments further confirmed that the as-prepared MoS₂/CC composite could be easily and rapidly recycled from solution after the practical application. The as-prepared MoS₂/CC composite maintained a high photo-degradation activity after being used several times, which signified it fit for reusing and avoided second pollution.