Cadmium sulfide modified zinc oxide heterojunction harvesting ultrasonic mechanical energy for efficient decomposition of dye wastewater

CdS/ZnO nano heterojunction was synthesized and applied in piezocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under ultrasonic vibration. The optimal CdS/ZnO composite with a CdS content of 35% presented the highest RhB degradation efficiency (98.8%) in 90 min. The degradation rate reached 4.02 h-1, which was 5.6 and 2.8 times higher than that of CdS and ZnO, respectively. In addition, CdS/ZnO showed high stability in the piezocatalytic reaction. The as-prepared CdS/ZnO piezocatalysts were characterized by multiple techniques to reveal the nature behind the enhanced catalytic activity. Results indicated that CdS nanoparticles were tightly loaded onto the surface of ZnO. The piezoelectric properties of the CdS/ZnO composites were the origin of their piezocatalytic behavior. The suitable band potentials of CdS and ZnO triggered the formation of a heterojunction structure, thereby driving the second distribution of the piezo-induced charge carriers. Therefore, the separation efficiency of charge carriers and the piezocatalytic performance was greatly elevated. The high piezocatalytic activity and stability indicated that CdS/ZnO may have wide application potential in the piezocatalytic degradation of organic dyes by using ultrasonic vibration energy.