Development of a new high-performance visible-light photocatalyst by modifying tin disulfide with cyclized polyacrylonitrile

Tin disulfide (SnS2) coupled with cyclized polyacrylonitrile (CPAN) was prepared via a hydrothermal synthesis -mixing in the solution-solvent evaporation-thermal cyclization method from inexpensive SnCl4.5H2O, thio-acetamide and polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The as-synthesized SnS2/CPAN exhibited not only a substantially increased photocatalytic activity (2.1 times that of bare SnS2), but also a fair stability in the visible-light (lambda > 420 nm)-induced reduction of aqueous Cr(VI). The modification with CPAN is capable of enlarging the specific surface area, enhancing the transfer and separation of photogenerated charge carriers, and increasing the Cr(VI)-adsorbing capacity of SnS2, leading to the improved photocatalytic activity of SnS2/CPAN. This study is instructive to exploit PAN to make SnS2-based and other semiconductor-based new efficient visible-light pho-tocatalysts. Moreover, the method employed for preparing SnS2/CPAN nanocomposite is simple, economical, and practical for producing various semiconductor/CPAN composite materials for photocatalytic and even other applications.