Efficient photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue in aqueous solution over flowerlike nanostructured MoS2-FeZnO staggered heterojunction under simulated solar-light irradiation

Different MoS2-FeZnO staggered heterojunction nanophotocatalysts, depending on the weight ratio of MoS2 and Fe doped ZnO (FeZnO), were synthesized using hydrothermal method. The prepared nanophotocatalysts were characterized by XRD, FESEM, PDS, EDX, BET, FTIR, DRS and pHpzc analyses. The results revealed that nanostructured MoS2(25)-FeZnO(75) staggered heterojunction exhibited higher photocatalytic activity under simulated solar light comparing to pure ZnO, FeZnO, MoS2(15)-FeZnO(85), MoS2(35)-FeZnO(65) and pure MoS2. The photocatalytic efficiency of MoS2(25)-FeZnO(75) nanophotocatalyst was found to be 95.2% at the reaction time of 140 min for degradation of methylene blue as a model contaminant. The enhanced photocatalytic performance was mainly ascribed to the formation of heterojunction structure between two semiconductors which facilitates the separation of photo-induced electron-hole pairs. In addition, the effects of photocatalyst loading, pH, initial dye concentration and reusability of the photocatalyst on the photocatalytic degradation of the methylene blue were studied. The obtained results showed that MoS2(25)-FeZnO(75) nanophotocatalyst owing to its proper structural properties can be used as a promising nanophotocatalyst in degradation of organic pollutants under simulated solar light. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.