Impact of bandgap tuning on ZnS for degradation of environmental pollutants and disinfection

Joseph, Anju and Billakanti, Srinivas and Pandit, Manzoor Ahmad and Khatun, Sajmina and Rengan, Aravind Kumar and et al, . (2022) Impact of bandgap tuning on ZnS for degradation of environmental pollutants and disinfection. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. ISSN 0944-1344

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Abstract

The materials showing multiple applications are appealing for their practical use and industrial production. To realize the suitable property for various applications, we have produced ZnS (sf-ZnS) and metal-doped ZnS nanoflakes (sf-m-ZnS; where m = Cu, Ni, Cd, Bi, or Mn) and correlated their activity with bandgap variation. We obtained all these materials via hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS)-assisted synthetic method without using any surfactants, polymers, or template molecules and characterized them thoroughly using various techniques. Photocatalytic, as well as antibacterial, activities of these materials showed their bifunctional utility. We have demonstrated the effect of doping and consequent extension of absorption band to the visible region and resultant improved photocatalytic activity under sunlight. Thus, the change in bandgap influenced their performance as photocatalysts. Among all materials produced, sf-Cd-ZnS provided superior results as a photocatalyst while degrading two organic pollutants—rhodamine B (RhB) and methylene blue (MB) in water. The antibacterial activity of sf-ZnS and sf-m-ZnS against Gram-positive bacteria, i.e., Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), was examined by the zone of inhibition method, wherein sf-Ni-ZnS showed maximum activity. The enhanced activity of these ZnS materials can be attributed to the free surface of nanoparticles without any capping by organic molecules, which provided an intimate interaction of inorganic semiconductor material with organic and biomolecules. Thus, we have demonstrated modification of properties both by bandgap tuning of materials and providing the opportunity for intimate interaction of materials with substrates. The photocatalytic activity and antibacterial action of metal-doped ZnS produced by our method exhibited their potential for environmental remediation, specifically water purification. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

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IITH Creators:

IITH Creators	ORCiD
Rengan, Aravind Kumar	https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3994-6760

Item Type:

Article

Additional Information:

The project is funded partially by IOE grants of University of Hyderabad. The authors thank the Centre for Nanotechnology at the University of Hyderabad for the TEM facility. A. J. thanks UGC-JRF for the fellowship.

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Antibacterial action; Photocatalysts; Surfactant free; Transition metal dopants; Zinc sulfide

Subjects:

Biomedical Engineering
Chemistry
Materials Engineering > Materials engineering

Divisions:

Department of Biomedical Engineering
Department of Chemistry
Department of Material Science Engineering

Depositing User:

. LibTrainee 2021

Date Deposited:

22 Jul 2022 07:13

Last Modified:

22 Jul 2022 07:13