Preparation of polystyrene@CdS core-shell nanocomposite materials with different cadmium sources for photocatalysis

ABSTRACT

The preparation of polystyrene@CdS core-shell nanoparticles of several hundreds nanometers was performed by hydrothermal method with different cadmium sources including CdCl₂·2.5H₂O, Cd(Ac)₂·2H₂O, and CdSO₄·8H₂O. The morphology, composition, size, and crystal structure of the synthesized polystyrene@CdS were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectra. The polystyrene@CdS nanocomposites prepared by different Cd sources exhibited different morphologies and thickness of CdS layer. Their photocatalytic properties were tested via a photocatalytic degradation of RhB experiment. The polystyrene@CdS nanocomposites prepared with Cd(Ac)₂·2H₂O as cadmium source showed the most effective photocatalytic performance.

KEYWORDS:

• Core-shell
• nanocomposite materials
• surface morphology
• cadmium source
• photocatalyst

Funding

This work is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21176260 and 21376268), Taishan Scholar Foundation (No. ts20130929), and National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2011CB605703).