Fabrication of nanostructured In2S3 thin film with broad optical absorption for improved sunlight mediated photocatalysis application

Abstract Recently, 2D-layered nanostructures have aroused huge interest for environmental remediation applications. Nanostructured 2D-In2S3 nanosheets based advanced coating is fabricated by using the hydrothermal method. Uniform advanced coating of In2S3 nanosheets over fluorine-doped tinoxide (FTO) substrates with high adhesion properties were achieved at optimum reaction parameters. Microscopy studies results confirm the existence of assembly of two-dimensional sheets throughout the film. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy results manifest that 2D nanostructured thin film exhibits β-In2S3 phase. UV-DRS studies reveal that as-prepared In2S3 thin film is capable of adsorbing the entire electromagnetic spectrum from the UV to NIR region. The 2D-In2S3 nanosheets contained thin films have been employed for the breakdown of organic pollutant solutions such as methylene blue and methyl orange under natural sunlight. Fabricated 2D-In2S3 thin films show the unusually high photodegradation performance towards methylene blue (5 μM) oxytetracycline (0.3 mg/mL) and methyl orange (10 μM) solution and decomposed them in 20 min, 120 min, and 40 min, respectively. The improved photodegradation process due to broader optical absorption has been proposed and briefly elaborated The present work provides new insight into the field of advanced thin-film-based photocatalysis initiated by solar light.