Facile Synthesis, Characterization, and Visible-light Photocatalytic Activities of 3D Hierarchical Bi2S3 Architectures Assembled by Nanoplatelets

3D hierarchical Bi2S3 architectures have been successfully synthesized via a simple and effective hydrothermal process. The as-prepared Bi2S3 samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen adsorptiondesorption isotherms, and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectrum (DRS). The observation of field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) images showed that numerous nanoplatelets are randomly arranged and interconnected with each other, which are assembled into 3D hierarchical Bi2S3 architectures. The photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared Bi2S3 samples was evaluated by the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. The effect of hydrothermal temperature, reaction time, pH value and shape on the photocatalytic efficiency of the as-prepared Bi2S3 samples was investigated. The results showed that 3D hierarchical Bi2S3 architectures prepared at 165 ◦C for 12 h at a pH of 2.4 exhibits high photocatalytic efficiency, which could be ascribed to the synergetic effect of the shape, surface area, crystallinity, band gap and crystalline size.