A Facile Synthesis of TiO2-CdS Heterostructures With Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

The development of photocatalysts for degradation of toxic pollutants is an increasingly important research area because of environmental pollution. In this paper, in order to exploit efficient photosensitizers with appropriate electronic states to enhance the transfer of electrons, TiO2-CdS heterostructures were synthesized by a facile, hydrothermal method. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and photoluminescence techniques. The degradation of the cationic dye rhodamine B (RhB) in water and perylene in organic solution by TiO2-CdS hetrostructures were investigated in detail. The results showed that the heterostructure largely enhanced the photosensitized degradation of RhB and perylene. They were supposed to arise mainly from the effective contact between the CdS and TiO2 nanoparticles. Such a heterostructure photocatalyst has much significance in the degradation of toxic and persistence organic pollutants contaminants in the environment.