Polyoxometalate mediated synthesis of novel multiporous microspheres of ternary Cu-Sn-S chalcogenides with enhanced photocatalytic activities

The introduction of Keggin-type polyoxometalate (POM) K4SiW12O40 into the solvothermal synthesis system of Cu3SnS4 (CTS) led to the formation of a new CTS-POM particle. The structure and composition were characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning electronic microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results revealed that the CTS-POM particles exhibit multiporous microsphere morphology, which was first observed in CTS materials. A possible growing mechanism was proposed based on POM concentration-dependent growth study of the microspheres. The photodegradation of RhB and H2 production under UV–vis irradiation was done to evaluate the photocatalytic activities of the samples. The results indicated that the as-synthesized CTS-POM exhibited enhanced photodegration of RhB and photocatalytic H2 generation compared to pure CTS particles, and the content of loaded POM has an important impact on the catalytic activity of CTS-POM. The 5% POM-loaded CTS microspheres reached the best photocatalytic activity in H2 production. Meanwhile, increased stability of photocatalytic activity of CTS-POM was also observed.