Preparation of cadmium-zinc sulfide nanoparticles modified titanate nanotubes with high visible-light photocatalytic activity

Titanate nanotubes (TiNTs) were modified in situ with cadmium-zinc sulfide nanoparticles by an ultrasound ion-exchange method combined with a hydrothermal process. The target product (TiNTs/Cd0.8Zn0.2S) showed a wide visible-light response and high visible-light photocatalytic activity. Degradation efficiency of rhodamine B in water was up to 96.6% with 1 mg mL(-1) of TiNTs/Cd0.8Zn0.2S photocatalyst under visible-light illumination for 90 min. The result demonstrated that the photocatalytic activity of TiNTs under visible-light illumination could be increased dramatically by modification with the ternary sulfide Cd0.8Zn0.2S nanoparticles. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.