A novel network porous microspheric ZnS/ZnO with enhanced visible light photocatalytic property

A novel network porous microspheric ZnS/ZnO photocatalyst had been successfully synthesized via a thermal treatment method with using ZnS as a template. The XRD diffraction result demonstrated that the material was the composite of hexagonal wurtzite ZnS and hexagonal wurtzite ZnO. The network porous microsphere was formed by ZnS/ ZnO nanowalls. The photocatalytic activity of the ZnS/ ZnO photocatalyst was investigated by using methyl orange (MO) under visible light irradiation. The MO was reduced by 96.93% in 120 min, which was much higher than that of pure ZnO and ZnS photocatalysts. The excellent photocatalytic performance was mainly attributed to the formation of novel network porous microspheric ZnS/ ZnO heterojunction which was formed by nanowalls and the efficient separation of photogenerated charge carriers.