Ultrasonic exfoliated ReS nanosheets: fabrication and use as co-catalyst for enhancing photocatalytic efficiency of TiO nanoparticles under sunlight.

Rhenium disulfide (ReS) is an interesting kind of transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) because of its thickness-independent and suitable direct-bandgap structure, which could enable highly efficient solar-energy conversion efficiency. Here, we demonstrate an ultrasonic liquid exfoliation technique in combination with grinding to produce high quality ReS nanosheets (NSs) on a large scale. After combination with TiO nanoparticles, the co-catalytic performance of TiO@ReS nanocomposites is investigated, which presents dramatically enhanced degradation activity of organic pigments under sunlight illumination in comparison with pure TiO nanoparticles. The underlying mechanism of enhanced photocatalytic activity can be attributed to improved separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs in TiO@ReS nanocomposites, which is confirmed by photoluminescence analysis and photoelectrochemical measurements. Our results demonstrate that the layered ReS NS is a promising two-dimensional supporting platform for photocatalysis and moreover it could also provide a new perspective on TMDs co-catalyst.