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Growth and exploration of visible-light-driven enhanced photocatalytic activity of Cu1–XCrxS/CdS heterojunction thin film for active dye degradation

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Abstract

A metal chalcogenide-based heterojunction thin film has attracted much attention as a photocatalyst for various photocatalytic applications. One-step, ease of access, and low-cost chemical bath deposition technique has been applied to deposit Cu1–xCrxS layer onto the post-deposited CdS thin films for layer-by-layer structure. The prepared samples structural, morphological, elemental composition, and optical properties were also explored widely. The structural parameters of the CuS (sample A), Cu1–xCrxS (sample B), and CdS (sample D) thin films were assessed from the obtained X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns. XRD pattern confirms the hexagonal wurtzite structure of samples A & B. The estimated parameters suggest that sample B shows better crystallinity. The optical bandgap of sample B shows the redshift effect on the Cr-doping. The sunlight-driven photocatalytic activity of sample A & B thin films was explored for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye aqueous solution without any oxidizing/reducing agent. The photodegradation results of sample B are better than the sample A. The redshift in optical absorption of sample B contributes to the enhancement in photocatalytic activity compared to sample A. Furthermore, the photocatalytic performance of sample A and B coupled with CdS (sample D) is examined. The cascade-like band structure between CdS and CuS accelerates the photocatalytic activity toward the degradation of methylene blue dye. The nanosheet-like morphology of CdS thin film provides a large surface area and a high number of active sites which also contributes in the performance enhancement of heterojunction thin films (sample AD and sample BD). The estimated rate constant of the sample BD compared to the sample AD is higher maybe due to the reduction in the recombination rate and separation of photogenerated ē-h+ pairs under the solar energy. The calculated photodegradation efficiency of sample BD is also higher than the sample AD. From the repeatability test of the samples AD & BD, the photocatalytic activity of the sample BD is still better than the sample AD, sample A & sample B. This work gives the primary ideology toward the efficient and low-cost fabrication of heterojunction thin-film photocatalyst.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by Inter University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), New Delhi, vide project no. IUAC/XIII.3A/623O7 dated 11/08/2017. Authors are thankful to the UGC DAE CSR Indore, Kalpakkam, and Mumbai for providing the characterization facilities like XPS, FESEM, and XRD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad, 431004, Maharashtra, India

    Vishnu V. Kutwade, Makrand E. Sonawane, Faizan Khan & Ramphal Sharma

  2. Department of Nanotechnology, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad, 431004, Maharashtra, India

    Ketan P. Gattu, Dipak A. Tonpe & Ramphal Sharma

  3. UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research, University Campus, Khandwa Road, Indore, 452001, Madhya Pradesh, India

    Mohammad Balal & Sudipta Roy Barman

  4. Department of Physics, IIS University (Deemed to Be University), Jaipur, 302020, Rajasthan, India

    Ramphal Sharma

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  1. Vishnu V. Kutwade
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Kutwade, V.V., Gattu, K.P., Sonawane, M.E. et al. Growth and exploration of visible-light-driven enhanced photocatalytic activity of Cu1–XCrxS/CdS heterojunction thin film for active dye degradation. Appl. Phys. A 128, 625 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-022-05757-w

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