Synergetic effect of carbon dots as co-catalyst for enhanced photocatalytic performance of methyl orange on ZnIn2S4 microspheres

To design highly-effective photocatalysts including various fascinating properties of eco-friendly, visible-light response and good durability has been strongly desired in photocatalysis field. Here, we synthetised a series of different proportions of carbon dots (CDs) as an ideal cocatalyst to enhance the photocatalytic activity of ZnIn 2 S 4 microspheres in the range of visible light. Simultaneously, CDs(5)/ZnIn 2 S 4 hybrid photocatalyst exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity for degradating methyl orange (MO) (10   mg/L; 100% degradation within 40   min), which is 2.34 times higher than that of ZnIn 2 S 4 alone. Additionally, the crystalline phases, structure, specific surface area and optical properties of as-prepared samples were characterized. The mechanism of enhanced photocatalytic activity of CDs/ZnIn 2 S 4 composite was also discussed.