Facile fabrication of g-C3N4/ZnS/CuS heterojunctions with enhanced photocatalytic performances and photoconduction

The construction of high-quality graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4)-based heterojunctions remains a grand challenge. Herein, the ternary heterojunctions of g-C3N4/ZnS/CuS has been fabricated via a facile three step process: the polymerization of melamine, the loading of ZnS nanoparticles (NPs), and further deposition of hexagonal CuS nanosheets. Compared with pure g-C3N4, there is an extended visible-light absorption over 500-800 nm for g-C3N4/ZnS/CuS, which enables the possible utilization of low-energy visible light. Moreover, ZnS NPs interface layers and hexagonal CuS nano-sheets can be both utilized as electron co-catalysts to markedly improve the separation efficiency of the photo-generated electrons and holes and decrease interface transfer resistance, resulting in highly efficient photocatalytic activity for degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) and significantly enhanced photoconductivity in an all-solid-state device. This work can be helpful for developing other effective hetero-structured photocatalysts and photoelectrical devices. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.