Solvothermal synthesis of CdIn2S4 photocatalyst for selective photosynthesis of organic aromatic compounds under visible light

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 1 - 16
• Main Authors: Ling, Cancan, Ye, Xiangju, Zhang, Jinghu, Zhang, Jinfeng, Zhang, Sujuan, Meng, Sugang, Fu, Xianliang, Chen, Shifu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 09.02.2017; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 119/118; 140/146; 142/136; 639/301/299/890; 639/638/439/890; Alcohols; Aromatic compounds; Cadmium; Ethylene glycol; Humanities and Social Sciences; Indium; multidisciplinary; Nitrates; Organic compounds; Oxidation; Photocatalysis; Photosynthesis; Redox properties; Redox reactions; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sulfides
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-00055-5

Ternary chalcogenide semiconductor, cadmium indium sulfide (CdIn 2 S 4 ), was prepared by a simple solvothermal method using ethylene glycol as a solvent, as well as indium chloride tetrahydrate (InCl 3 . 4H 2 O), cadmium nitrate tetrahydrate [Cd(NO 3 ) 2 . 4H 2 O], and thiacetamide (TAA) as precursors. The resulted sample was subject to a series of characterizations. It is the first time to use CdIn 2 S 4 sample as a visible light-driven photocatalyst for simultaneous selective redox transformation of organic aromatic compounds. The results indicate that the as-synthesized CdIn 2 S 4 photocatalyst not only has excellent photocatalytic performance compared with pure In 2 S 3 and CdS for the selective oxidation of aromatic alcohols in an oxygen environment, but also shows high photocatalytic redox activities under nitrogen atmosphere. A possible mechanism for the photocatalytic redox reaction in the coupled system was proposed. It is hoped that our current work could extend the applications of CdIn 2 S 4 photocatalyst and provide new insights for selective transformations of organic compounds.