Controlled syntheses of cubic and hexagonal ZnIn2S4 nanostructures with different visible-light photocatalytic performance

Cubic ZnIn2S4 nanoparticles and hexagonal ZnIn2S4 flower-like microspheres were controlled synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method by simply changing the metal precursors. The as-prepared samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM and UV-vis DRS. It was found that the metal precursors influenced the final ZnIn2S4 polymorphs, i.e., metal nitrates led to the formation of cubic ZnIn2S4, while metal chlorides resulted in the formation of the hexagonal phase. The formation processes of the cubic ZnIn2S4 nanoparticles and hexagonal ZnIn2S4 flower-like microspheres were investigated and the mechanism of the phase formation was proposed. Although both cubic and hexagonal ZnIn2S4 polymorphs exhibited photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methyl orange (MO) under visible light irradiation, the photocatalytic performances over cubic and hexagonal ZnIn2S4 were different.