Hydrothermal synthesis of Ca doped β-In2S3 for effective dyes degradation

Photocatalytic technology can provide a clean, low-cost and highly efficient path to approach the degradation of azo dyes. Tetragonal beta-In2S3 possesses plenty of vacancies, furnishing dopants with abundant interspace, and can be used as a potential photocatalyst for dyes degradation. In this work, Ca was doped into beta-In2S3 via a facile one-pot hydrothermal method, which was mainly doped into the crystalline lattices of beta-In2S3. Ca doped beta-In2S3 revealed better photo-degradation of Methyl Orange (MO) than undoped beta-In2S3. The doped Ca ions narrowed band gap and acted as a charge transfer medium, leading to the wider light absorption range and smaller photogenerated charge transfer resistance, respectively. The optimum preparation condition of Ca doped beta-In2S3 was determined as holding temperature at 120 degrees C for 8 h, by which 94.97% of MO was degraded in 20 mins under visible light. The outstanding performance could be owed to the full-grown flaky structure with maximal specific surface area. Based on the experimental results, a possible photocatalytic mechanism for MO degradation over Ca doped beta-In2S3 was proposed. (C) 2021 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study investigated the photocatalytic degradation of dyes using Ca-doped β-In2S3, which showed better performance in degrading Methyl Orange. The doped Ca ions played a crucial role in reducing band gap and facilitating charge transfer, leading to improved photocatalytic efficiency.