Green synthesis of multifunctional copper sulfide for efficient adsorption and photocatalysis

Copper sulfide (CuS) was prepared by co-precipitation process at low temperature and atmospheric pressure without any additive while Cu(NO3)(2) and thioacetamide were used as copper and sulfide sources, respectively. The effects of concentration, time, temperature, molar ratio of sulfur to copper and the pH of reaction system on the morphology of CuS were investigated. Rhodamine B (RhB) aqueous was employed to evaluate the photocatalysis and adsorption performances of the samples. The results showed that a pure hexagonal CuS has been successfully synthesized. Samples were demonstrated multifunctional of adsorption and photocatalysis under visible-light, which improved the degradation performance of high-dye wastewater. The degradation efficiency of RhB (20mgL(-1)) was 99% in 120min; when a small amount of H2O2 was used, 99% of RhB in high (50mgL(-1)) wastewater can be removed within 60min. This study provides a green preparation to choose for CuS with hollow spheres.