Facile synthesis of platinum/polypyrrole-carbon black/SnS2 nanocomposite for efficient photocatalytic removal of gemifloxacin under visible light

Abstract

Development and designing of effective visible light photocatalysts to overcome the drastrous situation of water pollution requires material with excellent charge transferring skills. In this regard, an efficient ternary nanocomposite photocatalyst comprised of SnS2 nanostructure linked with polypyrrole-doped carbon black (PPC) and platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) was successfully fabricated. Effective ternary photocatalyst was synthesized by hydrothermal technique followed by ultra-sonication and photo-reduction methodologies. The XRD measurements confirmed the hexagonal phase of SnS2, and the proper formation of nanocomposite. TEM examination revealed Pt NPs of 5–15 nm in size, dense cocoon like layered structure of PPC along with irregular pellets of SnS2. Acquired diffuse reflectance data confirmed the visible light band gap of synthesized nanomaterials. The Pt@PPC/SnS2 photocatalyst showed excellent destructive potential under visible light with 92.40 % removal of antibiotic gemifloxacin (GFX) in 30 minutes, almost 347 % more efficient than bare SnS2, and was found to be ultrafast for the removal of methylene blue (MB) with total elimination of dye just in 10 minutes. The photoluminescence and photocurrent transient analysis revealed enhanced light absorption capability and increased photo-induced carrier transfer with effective separation behavior, together with increased effective surface area of the ternary photocatalyst as evidenced by the BET surface area measurement.

Keywords

• SnS2
• Photocatalyst
• PtNPs
• Hydrothermal
• Photoreduction
• Gemifloxacin