High piezocatalytic capability in CuS/MoS2 nanocomposites using mechanical energy for degrading pollutants

Hongjing Li; Yi Xiong; Yumin Wang; Wenmei Ma; Jiapeng Fang; Xu Li; Qing Han; Yong Liu; Chunqing He; Pengfei Fang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2021.11.070

High piezocatalytic capability in CuS/MoS₂ nanocomposites using mechanical energy for degrading pollutants

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2022 Mar:609:657-666. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.11.070. Epub 2021 Nov 17.

Authors

Hongjing Li¹, Yi Xiong², Yumin Wang¹, Wenmei Ma¹, Jiapeng Fang¹, Xu Li¹, Qing Han¹, Yong Liu¹, Chunqing He¹, Pengfei Fang³

Affiliations

¹ School of Physics and Technology, Key Laboratory of Nuclear Solid State Physics Hubei Province, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
² School of Physics and Technology, Key Laboratory of Nuclear Solid State Physics Hubei Province, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China; Science and Technology Institute, Laboratory for Electron Microscopy, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan 430073, China.
³ School of Physics and Technology, Key Laboratory of Nuclear Solid State Physics Hubei Province, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China. Electronic address: fangpf@whu.edu.cn.

PMID: 34838313
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.11.070

Abstract

Piezocatalysis, driven by mechanical energy and piezoelectric effect, is of great potential in addressing the environmental issues. In this work, a piezoelectric catalyst was fabricated by growing few-layer MoS₂ nanosheets onto CuS, for the piezocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB), methylene blue (MB) and hexavalent chromium (Cr (VI)). The excellent removal efficiency of Cr (VI) and RhB can be reached 100% within 180 s, through the piezocatalysis of CuS/MoS₂-0.6 driven by mechanical stirring in the dark. Impressively, the piezoelectric current of CuS/MoS₂-0.6 is 48 and 35.7 times higher than that of pure CuS and MoS₂, respectively. The significantly enhanced piezocatalytic performance can be ascribed to the formation of CuS/MoS₂ heterojunction and the piezoelectric field generated by MoS₂ nanosheets, which promotes the efficient separation of electrons and holes. This study provides insights into strategies to improve catalytic performance through utilizing mechanical energy and opens a new horizon for environmental remediation.

Keywords: Heterostructure, Environmental remediation; Mechanical energy; Piezocatalysis, MoS(2) nanosheets.