Visible-Light Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Dyes over Ordered Mesoporous CdxZn1-xS Materials

Highly ordered mesoporous CdxZn1-xS materials were obtained via a simple nanoreplication method using a mesoporous silica template with a 3-D bicontinuous cubic Ia3d mesostructure. Combined analyses using X-ray diffraction, N-2 sorption, electron microscopy, and diffuse reflectance UV-visible spectroscopy revealed that the ordered mesoporous ternary compound semiconductor materials exhibited well developed crystalline frameworks, high surface areas of 80120 m(2)g(-1), uniform mesopore sizes of about 20 nm, ordered arrangement of mesopores, and outstanding visible light absorption properties. Photocatalytic activities were investigated by degradation of methylene blue and rhodamine B under visible light over the mesoporous CdxZn1-xS materials. Due to the high surface area and outstanding light absorption properties, the ordered mesoporous CdxZn1-xS exhibited excellent photocatalytic performances for the degradation of methylene bluetand rhodamine B. This study indicates a potential application of the mesoporous compound semiconductors in the efficient visible light-driven photolysis of organics that may cause environmental pollution.