In this present work, we synthesized a yolk-shell shaped CuCo₂S₄ by a simple anion exchange method. The morphological and structural properties of the as-synthesized sample were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-vis DRS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The SEM and TEM results confirmed that the uniform yolk-shell structure was formed during the solvothermal process. The band gap was about 1.41 eV, which have been confirmed by UV⁻vis DRS analysis. The photocatalytic property was evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye as a target pollutant under the visible-light irradiation. The experimental results confirmed the potential application of yolk-shell shape CuCo₂S₄ in visible-light photocatalytic applications.
Keywords: electron microscopy; photocatalyst; semiconductors; structural; yolk-shell.