Facile construction of a molybdenum disulphide/zinc oxide nanosheet hybrid for an advanced photocatalyst

Abstract Zinc oxide, an important semiconductor material with good stability, is widely used in photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants. MoS 2 is a two-dimensional semiconductor material. When molybdenum disulfide has more sulfur elements exposed, the photocatalytic activity can be improved. Through the hydrothermal method, zinc oxide nanosheets and molybdenum disulfide nanosheets were successfully supported to form MoS 2 -ZnO heterojunctions. The surface area of these heterojunctions is large, and they expose more sulfur elements which can effectively promote the separation of photo-generated electrons and holes, and improve the photocatalytic performance of MoS 2 -ZnO heterojunctions. The photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B by MoS 2 -ZnO heterojunctions was completed in one hour. MoS 2 -ZnO heterojunctions are environmentally friendly photocatalysts that do not pollute the environment when they degrade organic pollutants in water.