Clean light oriented ultrafast Pt/Bi2S3 nanoflakes for the photocatalytic destruction of gemifloxacin mesylate drug and methylene blue

• Published in: Journal of photochemistry and photobiology. A, Chemistry. Chemistry., 2021-06, Vol.414, p.113288, Article 113288
• Main Authors: Faisal, M., Rashed, Md. A., Alhmami, M.A.M., Harraz, Farid A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bi2S3; Gemifloxacin mesylate; Hydrothermal; Nanoflakes; Photocatalyst; Pt NPs
• ISSN: 1010-6030; 1873-2666
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotochem.2021.113288

[Display omitted] •A novel Pt/Bi2S3 nanocomposite photocatalyst via one-pot hydrothermal-photo-deposition techniques.•Efficient visible-light photocatalyst for degradation of gemifloxacin mesylate and methylene blue.•After coupling, enhanced light absorption with efficient charge carrier separation.•The k value using 1% Pt/Bi2S3 photocatalyst is 190 % larger than the value of undoped photocatalyst.•The current Pt/Bi2S3 photocatalyst exhibits excellent stability and reusability. Designing and fabrication of novel visible light active photocatalysts is still a challenging task, which requires highly dedicative efforts and professional skills. The current work focused to design distinct visible-light responsive photocatalysts based on Bi2S3 in combination with Pt nanoparticles for environmental remediation. The Pt/Bi2S3 frameworks were developed by a simple one-pot hydrothermal methodology followed by a photo-deposition technique. The XRD analysis confirmed the orthorhombic Bi2S3 with high degree of crystallinity whereas the FTIR and XPS investigations further confirmed the successful creation of hybrid nanostructures between Pt and Bi2S3 nanomaterials. FESEM analysis showed the flakes like appearance of Bi2S3 arranged in stacking or piling pattern. TEM analysis revealed that the Pt nanoparticles (varied from 8 to 15 nm) were evenly distributed onto Bi2S3 nanoflakes ranging from 50−150 nm in size. The UV–vis spectroscopic analysis showed the lowering of energy bandgap upon addition of Pt into Bi2S3 nanoflakes. The newly designed Pt/Bi2S3 photocatalysts were tested for their photocatalytic skills on gemifloxacin mesylate drug under visible light illumination. The 1% Pt/Bi2S3 displayed an exceptional performance with 93.0 % drug removal after 25 min and complete destruction of methylene blue (MB) dye in just 30 min under visible-light source. The newly fabricated 1% Pt/Bi2S3 photocatalyst was found to be an extraordinary candidate among all samples, giving 1.9 times higher degradation skills than that of bare Bi2S3. These promising features of the 1% Pt/Bi2S3 framework might be beneficial for its utilization in various environment related challenging tasks.