Hydrothermal Synthesis and Photocatalytic Properties of Flower-Like CdS Nanostructures

Abstract

Hexagonal flower-like CdS nanostructures were successfully synthesized through a facile hydrothermal method with thiourea as sulfur source. By combining the results of X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the structural and morphological characterizations of the products were performed. The photocatalytic activity of CdS nanostructures had been tested by degradation of Rhodamine B (RB) under UV light compared to commercial CdS powders, which indicated that the as-syntherized CdS nanostructures exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity for degradation of RB. The possible growth mechanism of CdS nanostructures was proposed in the end.