Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) as a co-catalyst for photocatalytic degradation of organic contaminants: A review

Photocatalytic degradation is an emerging, efficient and energy-save technology for the removal of organic contaminants from the water environment. With the development of two-dimensional functional materials, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has become one of the most popular emerging co-catalysts due to its high photocatalytic activity, strong adsorptivity, low cost and non-toxicity, especially applied to the photocatalytic degradation of organic contaminants. In this paper, we review the recent research progresses of graphene, carbon-nitrogen compounds, TiO2 and bismuth compounds supported on MoS2 co-catalyst, which were applied to photocatalytic degradation of various organic contaminants such as methylene blue (MB), methyl orange (MO) and rhodamine B (RhB), etc. Meanwhile, the basic processes of photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants have also been briefly analyzed and compared. More importantly, MoS2 co-catalyst plays an integral role in nanocomposites, especially in accelerating photo-induced electron transport and reducing electron recombination rates. It is indicated that MoS2-based composites are promising photocatalysts for photocatalytic degradation of environmental pollutants.