Fabrication of TiO₂/ZnS nanocomposites for solar energy mediated photocatalytic application

In the present work, we demonstrate the photocatalytic properties of nanosized TiO₂, and different levels of ZnS-loaded TiO₂/ZnS composites, for the degradation of the organic dyes brilliant green (BG), and methylene blue (MB) under solar light irradiation. For this process, TiO₂ and the composites were synthesized by a sol-gel method. Further, the prepared products were subjected to structural, optical, and morphological characterizations. The results of the photocatalytic activity imply that for the samples studied, TiO₂ loaded with an optimum level of zinc (0.25M), and sulfur (0.5M) is better able to actively degrade both BG and MB, due to its enhanced BET surface area, reduced band gap, and low charge transfer resistance.