In2S3 nanoparticles dispersed on g-C3N4 nanosheets: role of heterojunctions in photoinduced charge transfer and photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic performance

• Published in: Journal of materials science Vol. 52; no. 12; pp. 7077 - 7090
• Main Authors: Kokane, Sanjay B., Sasikala, R., Phase, D. M., Sartale, S. D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.06.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Carbon nitride; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Charge transfer; Chemistry and Materials Science; Classical Mechanics; Crystallography and Scattering Methods; Current carriers; Density; Dispersion; Dyes; Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; Heterojunctions; Light; Materials Science; Nanocomposites; Nanoparticles; Nanosheets; Organic chemistry; Original Paper; Photocatalysis; Photoelectric effect; Photoelectric emission; Photoluminescence; Polymer Sciences; Rhodamine; Solid Mechanics; Spectrum analysis; Oxygen Reduction Reaction; Photocurrent Density; Visible Light Absorption; Photocatalytic Activity; Methyl Orange
• ISSN: 0022-2461; 1573-4803
• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-017-0940-x

Fast recombination of photogenerated charge carriers is a major problem in the photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic processes. In this work, we report significantly improved PEC performance of a nanocomposite consists of In 2 S 3 nanoparticles dispersed on g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets synthesized by a simple and facile wet chemical route. The results of high-resolution TEM study show that the obtained In 2 S 3 nanoparticles of size 10–20 nm exist in cubic phase and are uniformly dispersed on the surface of g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets. The In 2 S 3 /g-C 3 N 4 nanocomposite with 25 weight percentage of In 2 S 3 exhibits 8.5 times higher photocurrent density than the single-phase g-C 3 N 4 under visible light illumination. The enhanced photocurrent density exhibited by the In 2 S 3 /g-C 3 N 4 nanocomposite is attributed to the efficient separation of photogenerated charge carriers. The charge transfer mechanism in In 2 S 3 /g-C 3 N 4 heterojunction was studied by a series of experiments, such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, photoelectrochemical measurement and photoluminescence emission spectroscopy. The intimate interface promotes the charge transfer and inhibits the recombination rate of photogenerated electron–hole pairs, which significantly improves the photoelectrochemical performance. A detailed charge transfer mechanism is discussed based on the Mott–Schottky plot study. This heterojunction material is found to be an efficient photocatalyst for the degradation of both cationic rhodamine B dye and anionic methyl orange dye as the lifetime of photogenerated charge carriers is higher in the composite than in single-phase In 2 S 3 and g-C 3 N 4 . A strong correlation between the photoelectrochemical and the photocatalytic performances is observed in this composite.