Carbon dots decorated cadmium sulphide heterojunction-nanospheres for the enhanced visible light driven photocatalytic dye degradation and hydrogen generation.

Carbon dots (C-dots) developed from beetroot is used for the rational design of cadmium sulphide based heterojunction photocatalysts (C-dots@CdS) using hydrothermal technique. The crystal structure, phase, morphology and optical characteristics of the synthesised materials are determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, UV-Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-DRS), photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL spectroscopy), BET adsorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrochemical studies. Using C-dots@CdS catalytic system, a superior photocatalytic activity relative to the undecorated CdS is observed. Among the C-dots@CdS samples, the CdS loaded with 6 wt% of C-dots exhibited enhanced hydrogen evolution rate compared with other samples considered for the study. CdS nanospheres modified with C-dots (6 wt%) resulted in the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of 1582 µmolg-1 against 849 µmolg-1 evolution rate obtained for CdS nanospheres within 3 h. In spite of being 0D/0D type nano-heteroarchitecture, C-dots@CdS system obtained an apparent quantum yield of 6.37 % for the catalytic dosage of 20 mg under the irradiation of visible light. CdS in the C-dots@CdS system serves as the light harvester while C-dots with discernible edges can maintain the continuous supply of photo-excited charge carriers and hence can reduce the charge-carrier recombination. Further, the photodegradation of crystal violet dye using the optimised dosage of C-dots@CdS-6 exhibited an efficiency of 97.3 % in 120 min of visible light irradiation under neutral conditions. The detailed kinetic study reveals that the mechanism of photodegradation of crystal violet dye using C-dots@CdS system can be described using pseudo-second-order kinetics. The presence of oxygen rich hydrophilic surface functionalities of C-dots, the formation of near-surface heterojunction and the suitable band structure of C-dots@CdS system leading to the optimum charge carrier separation kinetics can be attributed to the enhanced photocatalytic performance. This work offers a promising strategy to develop bio-derived C-dots based heterojunction photocatalyst to address the burgeoning energy and environmental demands.