The size controlled synthesis of Cu2S/P25 hetero junction solar-energy-materials and their applications in photocatalytic degradation of dyes

Abstract

In this paper highly dispersed Cu2S nanocrystals loaded on commercially available TiO2 form P25, denoted as Cu2S/P25, was firstly fabricated by a deposition-precipitation process, to establish close pn hetero junctions to improve the visible light activity and the stability of Cu2S on the catalyst surface. The catalysts were characterized by TEM, SEM, XRD, XPS, Raman, etc., the photocatalytic degradation kinetics of Cu2S-loaded TiO2 nanoparticles on methylene blue was systematically investigated. The results show that a lower amount of loading of Cu2S on Cu2S/P25 led to a higher photocatalytic degradation performance under visible light irradiation. The Cu2S quantum size effects on the absorption band edge and photo induced catalytic performance were also investigated.