Probing effective charge migration and highly improved photocatalytic activity on Polyaniline/Zn3In2S6 nano-flower under long wavelength light

Construction of visible light-response photocatalyst with enhanced photoelectric properties is considered to be an effective method for treating environmental pollutants under visible light irradiation. Herein, a novel PANI/Zn 3 In 2 S 6 composite photocatalyst was successfully synthesized by the method of electrostatic adsorption. The 0.05% Polyaniline/Zn 3 In 2 S 6 (PANI/Zn 3 In 2 S 6 ) demonstrates superior photocatalytic Cr(VI) reduction and 2-Mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) degradation performance under visible light (λ ≥ 420 nm), which is 3.76 and 3.27 times to that of Zn 3 In 2 S 6 , respectively. The improvement of photocatalytic performance is attributed to the modification the Zn 3 In 2 S 6 by PANI to maximize the carrier migration rate, light absorption intensity and cycle stability of the pure Zn 3 In 2 S 6 , so as to obtain efficient and stable photocatalytic performance. The tests of mass spectrometry analysis (MS) was conducted to detect intermediate products during MBT degradation, and a possible photodegradation pathway was proposed. Moreover, under the long-wavelength sunlight (λ ≥ 550 nm), it still shows improved photoreduction of Cr(VI) performance, the reaction rate constant is 2.18 times that of Zn 3 In 2 S 6 . Finally, by the band structure and capture experiments, a possible reaction mechanism over PANI/Zn 3 In 2 S 6 was proposed. This work provides a way to deal with heavy metal ion pollution in a long wavelength condition.