Novel MoS-InO-WS (2D/3D/2D) ternary heterostructure nanocomposite material: Efficient photocatalytic degradation of antimicrobial agents under visible-light.

Fabrication of ternary composited photocatalytic nanomaterials with strong interaction is vital to deriving the fast charge separation for efficient photodegradation of organic contaminants in wastewater under visible light. In this work, novel ternary 2D/3D/2D MoS-InO-WS multi-nanostructures were synthesized using facile hydrothermal processes. XRD, FTIR, and XPS results confirmed the phase, functional groups, and element composition of pure MoS, MoS-InO and MoS-InO-WS hybrids. UV-DRS spectra of the MoS-InO-WS ternary hybrid indicate maximum absorption in the visible light range with a band-gap energy value of 2.4 eV. The surface of the 2D WS nanosheet structure tightly blends and densely disperses 2D MoS nanosheets and 3D InO nanocubes. This confirmed the formation of the MoS-InO-WS ternary hybrid in the form of 2D/3D/2D multi-nanostructures, which is also indicated from SEM and HR-TEM images. The synthesized MoS-InO-WS ternary hybrid showed maximum photocatalytic activity under visible-light for antimicrobial agents such as triclosan (TCS) and trichlorocarban (TCC). The photocatalytic activity of TCS was revealed to be 95% at 90 min, while that of TCC was 93% at 100 min. The reusability and stability tests of the prepared MoS-InO-WS ternary hybrid after four consecutive photocatalytic cycles were analyzed by FTIR and SEM, which indicated that the prepared ternary hybrid was very stable. Overall results suggested that the developed MoS-InO-WS (2D/3D/2D) multi-nanostructures are environmentally friendly and low-cost nanocomposites as a potential photocatalyst for the removal of antimicrobial agents from wastewater.