Hydrothermal synthesis of α-Fe2O3-decorated MoS2 nanosheets with enhanced photocatalytic activity

MoS2 nanosheets decorated with alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles were synthesized via the hydrothermal method and characterized in terms of crystal structure, particle size and morphology, elemental purity and optical properties. Results showed the formation of alpha-Fe2O3/MoS2 composites composed of hematite nanoparticles with average diameter of 40 nm and MoS2 nanosheets with a hexagonal crystal structure and sheet thickness of < 10 nm. Optical band gap measurements revealed the decrease of the band gap of alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles from 2.65 to 2.15 eV upon loading MoS2 nanosheets in a way that the as-synthesized alpha-Fe2O3/MoS2 nanocomposites showed a high absorption capability in the visible region of the light spectrum. Photocatalytic examinations showed over 98% degradation/decolorization of Rhudamine Blue (Rh B) organic dye within 75 min by as-synthesized alpha-Fe2O3/MoS2 nanoparticles that was quite better than pure alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles and MoS2 nanosheets.