Fabrication of visible light active Sn-doped ZnS@CuO composites for wastewater remediation
Date
2024-12-03
Authors
khan, Sibghat ullah
Riaz, Ayesha
Ashraf, Ayesha
Tariq, Zainab
Hussain, Afzal
Alajmi, Mohamed Fahad
Hussain, Rafaqat
Zulfiqar, Sonia
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Elsevier
Abstract
Recently, research on photocatalysis has become indispensable in tackling the key global environmental issues caused by rapid urbanization and industrialization. In the present work, novel Sn-doped ZnS@CuO composites were designed for visible light driven wastewater remediation and explored the optimum concentration of CuO with enhanced photocatalytic efficiency. The study aimed to tailor the optical response of the photocatalysts to utilize the visible spectrum with enhanced performance against organic pollutants. For the development of Sn-doped ZnS@CuO composites, CuO flowers were prepared via a simple hydrothermal technique, whereas a chemical co-precipitation procedure was used to create Sn-doped ZnS nanoparticles (NPs). The X-ray
diffraction confirmed the monoclinic phase of CuO, whilst ZnS crystallized in a wurtzite structure. The diffraction patterns of the Sn-doped ZnS@CuO composites comprised of Sn-doped ZnS and
CuO co-existing phases. The crystallite sizes were determined to be in the range between 8-28 nm. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy further confirmed the elemental information of the photocatalysts. The FESEM images demonstrated a flower-like morphology for CuO, while Sndoped ZnS revealed agglomeration of NPs. Furthermore, the optical response of Sn-doped ZnS@CuO composites was significantly improved towards the visible region with the addition of CuO. Particularly, the Sn-doped ZnS@CuO composites with a 75 % CuO ratio (marked as W1) revealed an outstanding methylene blue (MB) removal efficiency of 96 %. The current work suggests that the novel Sn-doped ZnS@CuO composites can be utilized for the degradation of toxic pollutants from the aquatic environment.
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This is a manuscript of an article published as Riaz, Ayesha, Ayesha Ashraf, Zainab Tariq, Afzal Hussain, Mohamed Fahad Alajmi, Rafaqat Hussain, Sonia Zulfiqar, and Eric W. Cochran. "Fabrication of visible light active Sn-doped ZnS@ CuO composites for wastewater remediation." Ceramics International (2024). doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2024.10.373.
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This manuscript is licensed as CC BY-NC-ND.