Enhancement mechanism of photocatalytic activity for MoS2/Ti3C2 Schottky junction: Experiment and DFT calculation

• Published in: Journal of alloys and compounds 2021-12, Vol.887, p.161411, Article 161411
• Main Authors: Yang, Jun, Zhu, Quanxi, Xie, Zhigang, Wang, Yajing, Wang, Jiankang, Peng, Yuan, Fang, Yingying, Deng, Lihua, Xie, Taiping, Xu, Longjun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Absorption; Catalytic activity; Charge efficiency; Current carriers; Density functional theory; Electric fields; Light; Light irradiation; Luminous intensity; Mathematical analysis; Molybdenum disulfide; MoS2; Photocatalysis; Photodegradation; Reaction kinetics; RhB; Rhodamine; Schottky junction; Separation; Ti3C2; Ultraviolet radiation; Wastewater treatment
• ISSN: 0925-8388; 1873-4669
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2021.161411

It is very significant to boost separation efficiency of photoinduced charge carriers and to extend absorption light range from ultraviolet light into visible light region for photocatalysts. Here, Ti3C2 incorporation boosted the separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers of MoS2, extended absorption light region, heightened the absorption intensity of visible light, and enhanced photocatalytic stability. The rhodamine B (RhB) solution could be completely degraded using MoS2/Ti3C2 under visible light after only 30 min. The comparing evaluation of photocatalytic activity signified that the reaction kinetics of RhB photodegradation over MoS2/Ti3C2 increased 1.4 and 3 times under UV light and visible light irradiation, respectively. Experimental tests and density functional theory (DFT) calculation confirmed the formation of MoS2/Ti3C2 Schottky junction, in which Ti3C2 served as electron sink. The photogenerated electrons in MoS2 easily transferred to Ti3C2 phase due to driving force of built in electric field, which realized efficient separation of photocarriers and prolonged the life span of photoproduced holes. We sincerely hoped this catalyst could be widely applied in wastewater treatment field. The flower-like MoS2 grew on lamellar Ti3C2 to form MoS2/Ti3C2 Schottky junction that easily promoted photogenerated charge separation. [Display omitted] •MoS2/Ti3C2 Schottky junction was synthesized by a simple and low-cost method.•The photocatalytic activity of MoS2/Ti3C2 was higher than that of benchmark MoS2.•The boosted catalytic activity was interpreted via experiments and DFT calculation.