Visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity of tiny ZnO nanosheets anchored on NaBiS₂ nanoribbons via hydrothermal synthesis

Novel alkali metal-based NaBiS₂/ZnO nanocomposite photocatalysts were successfully fabricated via a facile hydrothermal technique for the enhancement of the catalytic activity under visible light. The synthesized photocatalysts were characterized using several microscopic and spectroscopic techniques, which confirmed the formation of heterostructured interfaces between the NaBiS₂ nanoribbons and ZnO nanosheets. The as-prepared NaBiS₂/ZnO nanocomposites exhibited significantly enhanced photocatalytic performance compared with pure NaBiS₂ and ZnO alone. In particular, a NaBiS₂/ZnO nanocomposite with ZnO loading of 10 mg achieved rhodamine B (RhB) degradation of 99% under visible-light irradiation within 120 min. The enhanced catalytic performance is ascribed to the synergistic effect of the NaBiS₂ nanoribbons and ZnO nanosheets. The interface between the NaBiS₂ and ZnO allowed the direct transfer of photogenerated electrons, which slowed the recombination of electron–hole pairs and enhanced the charge-separation efficiency. Thus, a probable photocatalytic mechanism is presented for the enhanced degradation of RhB by a NaBiS₂/ZnO nanocomposite.