Enhanced sunlight driven photocatalytic activity of In₂S₃ nanosheets functionalized MoS₂ nanoflowers heterostructures

Visible light-sensitive 2D-layered based photocatalytic systems have been proven one of the effective recent trends. We report the preparation of a 2D-layered based In₂S₃-MoS₂ nanohybrid system through a facile hydrothermal method, capable of efficiently degrading of organic contaminants with remarkable efficiency. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results inferred the attachment of 2D-layered In₂S₃ sheets with the MoS₂ nanoflakes. Field emission SEM studies with chemical mapping confirm the uniform distribution of Mo, In, and S atoms in the heterostructure, affirming sample uniformity. X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy results confirm the appearance of 2H-MoS₂ and β-In₂S₃ in the grown heterostructures. UV-DRS results reveal a significant improvement in the optical absorbance and significant bandgap narrowing (0.43 eV) in In₂S₃-MoS₂ nanohybrid compared to pristine In₂S₃ nanosheets in the visible region. The effective bandgap narrowing facilitates the charge transfer between MoS₂ and In₂S₃ and remarkably improves the synergistic effect. Effective bandgap engineering and improved optical absorption of In₂S₃-MoS₂ nanohybrids are favorable for enhancing their charge separation and photocatalytic ability. The photocatalytic decomposition efficiency of the pristine In₂S₃ nanosheets and In₂S₃-MoS₂ nanohybrids sample is determined by the decomposing of methylene blue and oxytetracycline molecules under natural sunlight. The optimized In₂S₃-MoS₂ nanohybrids can decompose 97.67% of MB and 76.3% of OTC-HCl molecules solution in 8 min and 40 min of exposure of sunlight respectively. 2D-layered In₂S₃-MoS₂ nanohybrids reveal the tremendous remediation performance towards chemical contaminations and pharmaceutical waste, which indicates their applicability in industrial and practical applications.