Core-shell composite nanoarchitectonics of TiO₂@NiCo₂S₄ via thermal decomposition approach for photodegradation of...

In the present work, TiO₂@NiCo₂S₄ core-shell nanocomposites have been successfully synthesized using a thermal decomposition approach using nickel acetyl acetonate and cobalt acetyl acetonate as metal salts and thiourea as source of sulfur in the presence of TiO₂ microspheres in diphenyl ether at about 200 °C in air aiming at their application in photodegradation of congo red (CR), a dye pollutant. The thickness of NiCo₂S₄ nanoparticles (shell) could be varied using different concentrations of reagents. Various analytical techniques were used to characterize the TiO₂@NiCo₂S₄ core-shell nanocomposites including powder XRD, FE-SEM, XPS, TEM and EDX confirming their successful synthesis. The synthesized core-shell nanocomposites exhibit notable photocatalytic activity towards degradation of an aqueous solution of congo red under sunlight. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency of TiO₂@NiCo₂S₄ nanocomposites is better than that of TiO₂-based nanocomposites, metal sulfide nanoparticles and other nanocomposites reported in the literature.