Sphalerite Cu/ZnS Nanoparticles Derived from Cu/Zn‐ZIF‐8 for the Photocatalytic Degradation and Adsorption of Dyes

A series of Cu‐doped ZnS sphalerite nanoparticles were synthesized through the reactions between Cu 2+ ‐doped zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIF‐8) with different Cu/Zn molar ratios as the metal sources and different sulfur sources, namely, carbon disulfide (CD), thioacetamide (TAA), sodium sulfide (SS), and thiourea (TU), under solvothermal conditions. The Cu‐doped ZnS samples exhibited nanospherical morphologies with diameters of less than 100 nm and high Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface areas. The photocatalytic properties of the obtained samples were investigated through the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) aqueous solutions under visible‐light illumination as a representative example. The results indicate that Cu/ZnS‐20‐SS presents a remarkable photocatalytic degradation rate of more than 90 % over 1 h and can be reused four times without major loss of activity. In addition, an adsorption investigation revealed that the Cu/ZnS‐TAA series can rapidly adsorb dyes such as MB and methyl orange (MO) with high adsorption capacities of ca. 260 mg/g within 10 min, and saturated adsorption capacities of close to 300 mg/g can be achieved.