Accelerating Surface Photoreactions Using MoS2-FeS2 Nanoadsorbents: Photoreduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) and Photodegradation of Methylene Blue

Hossein Ashrafi; Fatemeh Rahnama; Morteza Akhond; Ghodratollah Absalan

doi:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.1c03290

Accelerating Surface Photoreactions Using MoS₂-FeS₂ Nanoadsorbents: Photoreduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) and Photodegradation of Methylene Blue

Inorg Chem. 2022 Jan 17;61(2):1118-1129. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.1c03290. Epub 2021 Dec 30.

Authors

Hossein Ashrafi¹, Fatemeh Rahnama¹, Morteza Akhond¹, Ghodratollah Absalan¹

Affiliation

¹ Professor Massoumi Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Shiraz University, Shiraz 71454, Iran.

PMID: 34969241
DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.1c03290

Abstract

Nanocubic MoS₂-FeS₂, as a photocatalyst, was synthesized with high catalytic active edges and high specific surface areas with the capability of absorbing visible light. The results showed that the photocatalytic efficiency of nanocubic MoS₂-FeS₂ for adsorption/degradation of methylene blue (MB) as well as the reduction of Cr(VI) was high. The adsorption process was found to follow a kinetic model of a pseudo-second-order kind (Q_e.cal = 464 mg g^-1) along with an isotherm described by the Langmuir model with Q_e.cal = 340 mg g^-1. The photodegradation process was achieved by holes. It was found that the photodegradation rate constant of MB by MoS₂-FeS₂ (0.203 min^-1) was about 22 times higher than that of MoS₂ (0.0091 min^-1). The percent apparent quantum yield for photoreduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) using MoS₂-FeS₂ (5.7%) was about 33 times higher than utilizing MoS₂ (0.1709%). Therefore, the synergistically prolonged visible-light harvesting as well as the photocarrier diffusion length proved that MoS₂-FeS₂ nanotubes can effectively be utilized in environmental pollutant's remediation.