Abstract
In environmental pollutant remediation, advanced photocatalyst is essential for waste water purification. A facile and cost-effective technique was used to synthesize carbon quantum dots (CQD) which were utilized to modify copper sulfide (CuS). The 2% and 4% (CuS-CQDs) has been prepared by hydrothermal method. CuS-CQD has numerous photo-generated charge transfers as compared to pure CuS attributed to the synergistic effect of CuS, with CQDs. Prepared materials were utilized to photo-catalytic activity to breakdown Panadol effect from waste water. The 4% CuS-CQD exhibits a lower band gap energy and higher transient photocurrent density as compare to pure CuS and 2% CuS-CQD, as examined by optical and photoluminescence spectrum. Under visible-light irradiation, the 4% CuS-CQD exhibits much higher photocatalytic activity and stability towards the degradation of Panadol than other synthesized materials. On the basis of the experimental results and literature reports, a plausible visible-light driven photocatalytic mechanism of CuS-CQD for degrading Panadol was also proposed. In this research work, it has been reported that 4% CuS-CQD exhibited exceptional (96.5%) photo-degradation performance against Panadol. Carbon quantum dotes helped to increase the separation of photo generated charge carriers, allowing CuS to stimulate pollutant degradation.