In Situ Assembly of Well-Defined MoS<sub>2</sub> Slabs on Shape-Tailored Anatase TiO<sub>2</sub> Nanostructures: Heterojunctions Role in Phenol Photodegradation

oleh: Rosangela Santalucia, Paolo Negro, Tiziano Vacca, Francesco Pellegrino, Alessandro Damin, Federico Cesano, Domenica Scarano

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2022-11-01

Deskripsi

MoS<sub>2</sub>/TiO<sub>2</sub>-based nanostructures have attracted extensive attention due to their high performance in many fields, including photocatalysis. In this contribution, MoS<sub>2</sub> nanostructures were prepared via an in situ bottom-up approach at the surface of shape-controlled TiO<sub>2</sub> nanoparticles (TiO<sub>2</sub> nanosheets and bipyramids). Furthermore, a multi-technique approach by combining electron microscopy and spectroscopic methods was employed. More in detail, the morphology/structure and vibrational/optical properties of MoS<sub>2</sub> slabs on TiO<sub>2</sub> anatase bipyramidal nanoparticles, mainly exposing {101} facets, and on TiO<sub>2</sub> anatase nanosheets exposing both {001} and {101} facets, still covered by MoS<sub>2</sub>, were compared. It was shown that unlike other widely used methods, the bottom-up approach enabled the atomic-level growth of well-defined MoS<sub>2</sub> slabs on TiO<sub>2</sub> nanostructures, thus aiming to achieve the most effective chemical interactions. In this regard, two kinds of synergistic heterojunctions, namely, crystal face heterojunctions between anatase TiO<sub>2</sub> coexposed {101} and {001} facets and semiconductor heterojunctions between MoS<sub>2</sub> and anatase TiO<sub>2</sub> nanostructures, were considered to play a role in enhancing the photocatalytic activity, together with a proper ratio of (101), (001) coexposed surfaces.