Solar photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange using PbS-ZnS/electrospun fiber composites

Abstract

A facile, efficient approach to fabricate PbS-ZnS heterojunction/electrospun fiber composites with micro-nano-sized structure was reported, involving the preparing of electrospun fibers by high-voltage electrospun technology and the synthesizing of chalcogenide semiconductors by low temperature hydrothermal method. The PbS-ZnS/electrospun fiber composites exhibited high photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methyl orange under ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation of solar light. Compared with titanium dioxide and the PbS-ZnS powder, PbS-ZnS/electrospun fiber composites exhibited excellent reusability with high photocatalytic efficiencies, indicative of its suitability for the solar photocatalytic applications. The residual mass of photodegradation of methyl orange in 300 min was 1.23%.