Cadmium Sulfide-Ferrite Nanocomposite as a Magnetically Recyclable Photocatalyst with Enhanced Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Activity and Photostability

We report a facile strategy to fabricate a cadmium sulfide-ferrite (CdS-MFe2O4, M = Zn, Co) nanocomposite with differing ferrite content via a two-step hydrothermal method and demonstrate its application as a magnetically recyclable photocatalyst with enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity and photostability. The photocatalytic activities of as-prepared photocatalysts are evaluated by the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) in aqueous solution under visible-light irradiation. Compared with pure CdS, both CdS-ZnFe2O4 and CdS-CoFe2O4 show more broad absorption in the visible-light region, which favors the visible-light utilization for better photocatalytic performance. Moreover, the surface area of cadmium sulfide-ferrite is much higher than that of pure CdS, also resulting in enhanced photocatalytic activity. Furthermore, the synergic effects of CdS and ferrites can reduce the recombination probability of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and enhance the charge separation efficiency, leading to high photocatalytic performance and remarkable inhibited photocorrosion.