Fabrication of TiO2 embedded ZnIn2S4 nanosheets for efficient Cr(VI) reduction

Various TiO 2 /ZnIn 2 S 4 composites with an embedded structure have been developed by a facile one-pot synthesis. The activities of all samples were estimated by photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) under visible light (λ>420 nm). Results showed that the electrostatic interaction and self-assembly effect make TiO 2 nanoparticles inserting into ZnIn 2 S 4 nanosheets. The resulting TiO 2 /ZnIn 2 S 4 composites show much better photocatalytic performance for Cr(VI) reduction than that of pristine TiO 2 and ZnIn 2 S 4 . Especially, the photocatalytic efficiency of T/ZIS-0.3 (TiO 2 loading of 30 wt%) is approximate 3 times as high as that of pristine ZnIn 2 S 4 (TiO 2 exhibited almost no activity). The embedded structure of TiO 2 /ZnIn 2 S 4 offers apparent increase of specific surface area, visible-light absorption and electrons transfer efficiency, which are responsible for the boosted photocatalytic activity. This work would inspire researchers to construct high-efficiency semiconductor composites for photocatalytic environmental governance.