Nanosheet bimetal oxysulfide CuSbOS catalyst for highly efficient catalytic reduction of heavy metal ions and organic dyes

Nanosheet CuSbOS bimetal oxysulfide catalysts were successfully synthesized by a thermal precipitation method. X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), UV-vis diffuse spectroscopy (DRS), photoluminescence (PL) emission spectrum and N-2 adsorption-desorption isotherms were applied for the CuSbOS characterizations. CuSbOS reduction activities were investigated by the reduction of heavy metal ions such as Cr(VI), Pb(II), and Hg (II) aqueous solution and the organic dyes such as methyl orange (MO), rhodamine-B (RhB), and methylene blue (MB). The results displayed that CuSbOS were excellent in reduction activity for Cr(VI), Pb(II), and Hg(II) without added any other agents, and for MO, MB, and RhB but with NaBH4. CuSbOS also performed good stability and durability after several repeated runs for reducing heavy metal ions and organic dyes. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.