A hierarchical nanostructured carbon nanofiber-In2S3 photocatalyst with high photodegradation and disinfection abilities under visible light.

Photocatalytic degradation of pollutants under visible light provides a new door to solve the water contamination problem by utilizing free and renewable sunlight. The search for highly efficient photocatalysts with hierarchical nanostructures remains crucial for accessing this new door. In this work, a new hierarchical nanostructured photocatalyst is designed and synthesized, for the first time, by anchoring In2S3 flower-like nanostructures on non-woven carbon nanofiber (CNF). The nanostructures of these CNF-In2S3 composites were fine-tuned, with the aim of achieving the highest photocatalytic activity under visible light. The formation mechanism of the hierarchical nanostructure is also investigated. The results indicate that the optimized hierarchical CNF-In2S3 photocatalyst is superior in photodegradation and disinfection efficiency to that of pure In2S3 under visible-light irradiation. The prominent photocatalytic activities of these hierarchical CNF-In2S3 photocatalysts can be attributed to the excellent properties of enhanced light absorption, large surface area, and efficient charge separation, which are all derived from the special three-dimensional hierarchical nanostructures. Therefore, this work presents the great potential of this hierarchical nanostructured CNF-In2S3 photocatalyst in practical environmental remediation fields.