Preparation and characterization of CdS nanoparticles decorated into titanate nanotubes and their photocatalytic properties

Abstract

Nanoscopic CdS particles are decorated into the microchannel with nanometre-scale diameter of titanate nanotubes (TNTs) by using nonionic thioacetamide (TAA) as a sulfide precursor (labelled as CdS(TAA)/TNTs). The characterizations by XPS, TEM, XRD, Raman spectroscopy and UV–vis absorption confirm that CdS nanoparticles with smaller size and more homogeneous dispersion are obtained by using a TAA precursor in contrast to the particles predominantly formed on the surface of TNTs by adding ionic Na2S as a precursor (labelled as CdS(Na2S)/TNTs). As is expected, the photocatalytic activities of the nanosized CdS sensitized TNTs nanocrystal materials were superior to those of simple CdS and TNTs in the oxidation of rhodamine B under visible light irradiation. Furthermore, the comparison of photocatalysis activity between CdS(TAA)/TNTs and CdS(Na2S)/TNTs is also discussed.