Simple synthesis, characterization and investigation of photocatalytic activity of NiS2 nanoparticles using new precursors by hydrothermal method

In this work, nickel sulfide (NiS2) nanostructures were successfully synthesized using a new nickel source by the simple hydrothermal method. These nanostructures were produced by reacting [Ni(pht)(H2O)(2)] as an organometallic precursor with various sulfur sources, including: thiourea, CS2, (NH4)(2)S and cysteine. The effect of type of sulfur sources on the morphology and purity of products was investigated. According to the investigations, increasing the release rate of sulfur from source increased the size of products and the by-products. The products were characterized by different analyses such as: X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results showed that using massive precursors can be considered as an effective way for production of nanomaterials without using any capping agents. The optical properties of NiS2 nanostructures were studied by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The band gap of this product was estimated about 2.2 eV that proved this compound can be considered as a semiconductor. The obtained band gap was more than the NiS2 bulk due to the quantum effects in nanomaterials. The degradation percent of two dyes: erythrosine and phenol red dyes in the presence of this product as a photocatalyst under UV irradiation obtained about 57 and 71, respectively.