Photocatalytic and optical characteristics of ZnIn₂S₄ microspheres

Dye degradation is a common method for examining the physical behavior of any photocatalyst material. We used a polymer-type ion release source to synthesize ZnIn₂S₄ (ZIS) microspheres in this work. The reaction solvent, reaction time, and reaction temperature are tested to get the optimal conditions for this experiment. The structural and optical characteristics of the products are measured using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), x-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET), and ultraviolet-visible (UV–vis) spectrometer. The results show that the ZIS microspheres size is about 2–4 μm, specific surface areas is 11.05 m²g⁻¹, and its energy gap is approximately 2.1 eV. The photocatalytic behavior was evaluated by degradation of methylene orange under visible light irradiation. (paper)