Cadmium sulfide decorated with carbon nanoparticles from peanut shells: an efficient photocatalyst

Abstract

Carbon decorated cadmium sulfide nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical precipitation method in aqueous medium using dichloroacetic acid as a complexing agent to study their optical and photocatalytic properties. Carbon nanoparticles were prepared from waste peanut shells by simple pyrolysis method. The as-prepared materials were characterized by XRD analysis, UV-Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, Spectro fluorometry, FTIR and BET analysis. SEM and TEM images indicate nano crystallites with spherical agglomeration of average 40nm size. Band gap energy for pure CdS was observed in the order of 2.4eV. As prepared carbon decorated CdS nanoparticles with increased surface area efficiently catalyzed the photodegradation of Rhodamine-B dye solution under sunlight irradiation than pure CdS.