Copper sulfide nanoparticles (CuS NPs) have recently attracted extensive attention in various fields due to their excellent optical and electrical properties. However, CuS NPs are easy to agglomerate in their preparation on account of the high surface activity. In this study, uniform dispersion of CuS NPs were fabricated with corn stalk as a template and stabilizer, further CuS@corn stalk/chitin composite hydrogel was obtained by crosslinking with chitin. The results reveal that the CuS NPs were evenly dispersed into the composite hydrogels with a three-dimensional network structure, which were verified by the UV-vis spectrum, XRD, FT-IR spectra and SEM. In addition, the as-prepared composite hydrogel with the traits of peroxidase-like activity can convert H2O2 into an extremely oxidative and toxic ·OH, which manifested good effects for photodegradation of RhB and antibacterial against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Hence, the composite hydrogels could be used for photocatalytic treatment and sterilization of wastewater, which provides a new idea for the functional application of CuS NPs.
Keywords: CuS; antibacterial; corn stalk; hydrogel; photodegradation.