Surface defect engineering of SnS2 nanocrystals for enhanced photocatalytic reduction of Cr (VI) under visible light

Introducing defects in photocatalytic materials has been considered as an effective method to optimize its performance in the conversion of solar energy to chemical energy. Herein, tin disulfide (SnS2) nanocrystals with high specific surface area and rich sulfur vacancies were successfully synthesized using a low temperature solid state method, and it showed outstanding photocatalytic reduction performance of Cr (VI) aqueous solution under visible light. In addition, the S-vacancy-rich SnS2(R-SnS2) exhibits a higher visible-light photocurrent and more efficient photoinduced carrier separation than S-vacancy-poor SnS2(P-SnS2). This discovery provides a new strategy for large-scale preparation of two-dimensional metal sulfides with excellent photocatalytic performance.