Designing Surface-Defect Engineering to Enhance the Solar-Driven Conversion of CO2 to C2 Products over Zn3In2S6/ZnS

Optimization of Electrochemical Sensitivity in Anticancer Drug Quantification through ZnS@CNS Nanosheets: Synthesis via Accelerated Sonochemical Methodology

Zinc sulfide/graphitic Carbon Nitride binary nanosheets were synthesized by using a novel sonochemical pathway with high electrocatalytic ability. The as- obtained samples were characterized by various analytical methods such as Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to evaluate the properties of ZnS@CNS synthesized by this new route. Subsequently, the electrical and electrochemical performance of the proposed electrodes were characterized by using EIS and CV to establish an electroactive ability of the nanocomposites. The complete properties like structural and physical of ZnS@CNS were analyzed. As-prepared binary nanocomposite was applied towards the detection of anticancer drug (flutamide) by various electrochemical methods such as cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and amperometry. The glassy carbon electrode modified with a ZnS@CNS composite demonstrates a remarkable electrocatalytic efficiency for detecting flutamide in a pH 7.0 (PBS). The composite modified electrode shows synergistic effect of ZnS and CNS catalyst. The electrochemical sensing performance of the linear range was improved significantly due to high electroactive sites and rapid electron transport pathways. Crucially, the electrochemical method was successfully demonstrated in biological fluids which reveals its potential real-time applicability in the analysis of drug.

Photothermal Synergistic Catalysis over Defective Zn3In2S6 for CO2 Fixation

Carbon dioxide (CO2) cycloaddition not only produces highly valued cyclic carbonate but also utilizes CO2 as C1 resources with 100% atomic efficiency. However, traditional catalytic routes still suffer from inferior catalytic efficiency and harsh reaction conditions. Developing multienergy-field catalytic technology with expected efficiency offers great opportunity for satisfied yield under mild conditions. Herein, Zn3In2S6 with sulfur vacancies (Sv) was fabricated with the assistance of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), which is further employed for photothermally driven CO2 cycloaddition first. Photoluminescence spectroscopy and photoelectrochemical characterization demonstrated its superior separation kinetics of photoinduced carriers induced by defect engineering. The temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) technique indicated its excellent Lewis acidity-basicity characters. Due to the combination of above merits from photocatalysis and thermal catalysis, defective Zn3In2S6-Sv achieved a yield as high as 73.2% for cyclic carbonate at 80 °C under blue LED illumination within 2 h (apparent quantum yield of 0.468% under illumination of 380 nm monochromatic light at 36 mW·cm-2), which is 2.9, 2.0, and 6.9 times higher than that in dark conditions and those of pristine Zn3In2S6 and industrial representative tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) thermal-catalysis process under the same conditions, respectively. The synergistic reaction path of photocatalysis and thermal catalysis was discriminated by theoretical calculation. This work provides new insights into the photothermal synergistic catalysis CO2 cycloaddition with defective ternary metal sulfides.