CdS Loaded Activated Carbon: An Efficient, Solar Light Driven Photocatalyst for RhB Dye Degradation

Abstract

A series of novel photocatalyst with CdS loaded on activated carbon (xAC/CdS) were successfully synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method. The activated carbon content was varied between 0-7 wt. %. The prepared photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with EDX, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, N2 adsorption-desorption analysis and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of as-synthesized photocatalysts was studied for RhB dye degradation under natural sunlight irradiation. XRD analysis assigned both cubic and hexagonal morphology for xAC/CdS photocatalysts. The UV-vis DRS studies showed that loading of CdS on activated carbon enhances its visible light absorption with decrease in band gap energy. The lowest photoinduced e/h pair recombination rate in 3wt% AC/CdS results in optimum photocatalytic activity as revealed by photoluminescence study. The enhancement in dye degradation ability (̴ 11 times) of prepared photocatalysts can be attributed to synergistic effect of CdS and activated carbon.