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Heterojunction photocatalysts composed of CdIn2S4 (CIS) nanocrystals and graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets (CN) have been synthesized using a simple two-step wet chemistry method. In this system, CN nanosheets not only act as a substrate for the growth and uniform distribution of CIS nanocrystals but also play a key role in the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants with high efficiency. The CdIn2S4/g-C3N4 (CIS/CN) heterojunction photocatalysts exhibited better photocatalytic activity than that of pristine CIS and CN in photocatalytic degradation of both an organic dye (methyl orange) and an antibiotic (tetracycline hydrochloride). The enhanced photocatalytic performance might be ascribed to the formation of a heterojunction structure with strong interface interaction, which is beneficial to the photoinduced charge transfer between CIS and CN and efficient to accelerate the seperation of photogenerated electrons and holes. The as-synthesized heterojunction photocatalysts also showed good photocatalytic stability. After four cycles, the photocatalytic activity almost remains unchanged. The heterojunction photocatalysts with excellent photocatalytic performance and reusability may provide a new sight in the development of a photocatalyst with high efficiency for practical application of water purification.

A g-C3N4/nanocarbon/ZnIn2S4 (CN/C/ZIS) nanocomposite with enhanced photocatalytic H2 production performance has been successfully synthesized. Based on the experimental results, for the first time, it has been demonstrated that nanocarbon could be integrated into a Z-scheme photocatalytic system and acted as an excellent solid electron mediator.

We report on the fabrication of silica/zinc oxide/zinc sulfide nanoparticles (SiO2/ZnO/ZnS NPs) wrapped with thermoresponsive molecularly imprinted polymers (TMIPs) for photocatalysis (PC) applications. TMIPs were prepared via surface-initiated reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (SI-RAFT) polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), rendering the material solution accessible and temperature sensitive. Photodegradation of sulfadiazine (SD) was used as a probe to evaluate the effect of coated TMIPs on the PC performance of SiO2/ZnO/ZnS NPs. The results showed that TMIPs made SiO2/ZnO/ZnS NPs have an outstanding specific affinity PC activity toward template SD. Modification of SiO2/ZnO/ZnS NPs with Ag2S resulted in a tunable PC ability of the prepared material. For SI-RAFT conducted in a controlled manner, a thin layer of polymers (∼100 nm) formed around NPs was measured by a transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Also the polymers were characteri...