Biomolecule-Assisted, Environmentally Friendly, One-Pot Synthesis of CuS/Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanocomposites with Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance

In this work, we develop a novel environmentally friendly strategy toward one-pot synthesis of CuS nanoparticle-decorated reduced graphene oxide (CuS/rGO) nanocomposites with the use of L-cysteine, an amino acid, as a reducing agent, sulfur donor, and linker to anchor CuS nanoparticles onto the surface of rGO sheets. Upon visible light illumination (lambda > 400 nm), the CuS/rGO nanocomposites show pronounced enhanced photocurrent response and improved photocatalytic activity in the degradation of methylene blue (MB) compared to pure CuS. This could be attributed to the efficient charge transport of rGO sheets and hence reduced recombination rate of excited carriers.