Facile synthesis of ZnO flowers modified graphene like MoS₂ sheets for enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity and antibacterial properties

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nano flowers uniformly attached to the surface of Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) sheet were successfully prepared via a simple facile one pot hydrothermal method. The morphology and microstructure of the prepared samples was characterized using field - emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area was determined using physical and chemical analyzer. The characterization results showed that the flowers like ZnO micro-structures were uniformly attached to the surface of MoS₂. The as-prepared MoS₂/ZnO composite showed enhanced photocatalytic activity and considerable stability for the photo degradation of phenol red as compared with pure MoS₂ and ZnO under both UV and visible light irradiation. Such an enhancement of photo degradation capability was ascribed to the synergistic effect between the flowers-shaped ZnO particles and sheet-like structure of MoS₂, which boost the migration efficiency of photo-induced electrons and hinder electron-hole recombination rate. It was also found that the amount of MoS₂ in the composite has a significant effect on the degradation activity. Moreover, the antibacterial activity test towards the gram negative Escherichia-coli showed that the MoS₂/ZnO composite has better antibacterial properties compared to pure ZnO and MoS₂.