Hydrothermally synthesized ZnO/WS₂ composite with impressive photocatalytic, antibacterial, and electrochemical performances

In this study, we prepared a multifunctional ZnO/WS₂ composite by a hydrothermal process, in which ZnO rods are wrapped with WS₂ sheets, and investigated its photocatalytic, antibacterial, and electrochemical properties. It was observed that the loading of WS₂ sheets into ZnO rods significantly enhanced the catalytic activity of the resultant composite in terms of photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) and destruction of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria. Additionally, the ZnO/WS₂ composite was implied as a substantial electrode material for supercapacitors. In a three-electrode system, the composite electrode exhibited good electrochemical performance with a specific capacitance of 180F/g at the current density of 0.5 A/g in a 2 M KOH electrolyte, which is 81 % enhancement than that of ZnO rods. Further, cyclic stability of ∼75 % was recorded after 5000 runs. The enhanced optical, photocatalytic, antibacterial, and electrochemical properties are ascribed to the combined effect of ZnO and WS₂ in the composite system.