Development of a new high-performance visible-light photocatalyst by modifying tin disulfide with cyclized polyacrylonitrile

• Published in: Materials letters Vol. 330; p. 133353
• Main Authors: Chen, Jun, Wang, Bingxing, Wang, Jichao, Zhang, Yongcai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.01.2023
• Subjects: Nanocomposites; Photocatalysis; Powder technology; Raman; Semiconductors; Raman; Powder technology; Semiconductors; Nanocomposites; Photocatalysis
• ISSN: 0167-577X; 1873-4979
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matlet.2022.133353

•Facile preparation of SnS2/CPAN nanocomposite as a new visible-light photocatalyst.•SnS2/CPAN has much superior photocatalytic activity to SnS2 in Cr(VI) reduction.•SnS2/CPAN is well stable and recyclable in photocatalysis.•Mechanism for the improved photocatalytic activity of SnS2/CPAN has been proposed.•Instructive to exploit PAN to make new efficient visible-light photocatalysts. Tin disulfide (SnS2) coupled with cyclized polyacrylonitrile (CPAN) was prepared via a hydrothermal synthesis-mixing in the solution-solvent evaporation-thermal cyclization method from inexpensive SnCl4·5H2O, thioacetamide and polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The as-synthesized SnS2/CPAN exhibited not only a substantially increased photocatalytic activity (2.1 times that of bare SnS2), but also a fair stability in the visible-light (λ > 420 nm)-induced reduction of aqueous Cr(VI). The modification with CPAN is capable of enlarging the specific surface area, enhancing the transfer and separation of photogenerated charge carriers, and increasing the Cr(VI)-adsorbing capacity of SnS2, leading to the improved photocatalytic activity of SnS2/CPAN. This study is instructive to exploit PAN to make SnS2-based and other semiconductor-based new efficient visible-light photocatalysts. Moreover, the method employed for preparing SnS2/CPAN nanocomposite is simple, economical, and practical for producing various semiconductor/CPAN composite materials for photocatalytic and even other applications.