N-doped carbon-coated ZnS with sulfur-vacancy defect for enhanced photocatalytic activity in the visible light region

Abstract

In this work, N-doped carbon-coated ZnS with a sulfur-vacancy defect (ZnS@N-C) was performed for the visible-light-driven photodegradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH). The obtained ZnS@N-C exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity compared with ZnS for TCH removal. Among these ZnS@N-C composites, ZnS@N-C-3 with N-doped content of 3.01% (100 nm) presented the best visible-light photocatalytic activity and superior long-term photocatalytic stability after five cycle times for TCH removal in the visible light region. This may be ascribed to the interface between the N-doped carbon shell and ZnS with a sulfur-vacancy defect for efficient charge transfer and the restrained recombination of charge carriers. Electron spin resonance (ESR) results indicate that the ·O2- radical plays a crucial role in the enhanced photocatalytic activity of ZnS@N-C-3.