Synthesis and photocatalytic property of cubic phase CdS

In order to understand the nanostructure-based architectures and phase structures of CdS on the photocatalytic property, we have synthesized 3 D flower-like CdS with cubic phase and hexagonal phase CdS nanoparticles by hydrothermal method. The as-prepared samples have been characterized by XRD, FESEM, and UV–Vis. The photocatalytic activity has been evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) under simulated visible-light irradiation. FESEM results reveal that the morphologies of cubic phase CdS are flower-like structures, and the morphologies of hexagonal phase CdS are nanoparticles. The optical energy band gap of flower-like CdS is 2.25 eV from UV–Vis result. Moreover, the flower-like CdS exhibits better photocatalytic activity and its highest degradation rate to MB can reach 90.4% than that of CdS nanoparticles.