A wheel-shaped gallium-sulfide molecular ring with enhanced photocatalytic activity via indium alloying

Wheel-shaped molecular rings are one of the most striking types of molecular aggregates due to their naturally aesthetically appealing architecture, giant size and interesting physical properties and potential applications. Herein, unlike common supertetrahedral cluster-based main-group metal chalcogenides, we report an unprecedented wheel-shaped double-decker {Ga24S40} molecular ring (WSC-1) with an & SIM;1.6 nm external diameter, which is the first main-group metal sulfide nanoring and the largest ring in the family of inorganic metal sulfide molecular rings. Furthermore, indium was successfully introduced to obtain the first bimetallic main-group metal chalcogenide molecular ring (WSC-1-In), exhibiting enhanced photocatalytic dye degradation. This work is of great significance to expand the family of metal chalcogenide molecular rings and demonstrated the great potential of metal chalcogenide molecular rings in the application of photocatalysis.

Automated summary

In this study, a novel wheel-shaped double-decker molecular ring with an external diameter of approximately 1.6 nm was synthesized. It is the first main-group metal sulfide nanoring and the largest ring in the family of inorganic metal sulfide molecular rings. Furthermore, the introduction of indium resulted in the formation of a bimetallic main-group metal chalcogenide molecular ring with enhanced photocatalytic dye degradation. This work expands the family of metal chalcogenide molecular rings and demonstrates their potential in photocatalytic applications.