Ca(II) doped β-In2S3 hierarchical structures for photocatalytic hydrogen generation and organic dye degradation under visible light irradiation.

Hierarchical structures assembled by two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets could inherit the characteristics of nanosheets and acquire additional advantages from the unique secondary architectures, which would have important influences on the photocatalytic properties of semiconductor nanomaterials. In this work, we successfully synthesized Ca(II) doped β-In2S3 hierarchical structures stacked by thin nanosheets by a simple solution chemical process. The effects of reaction temperature and Ca2+ concentration on the size and morphology of the products were systematically investigated. The photocatalytic applications of the β-In2S3 hierarchical structures were evaluated for hydrogen production and degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation (λ>420nm). The β-In2S3 hierarchical structures showed promising activity towards photocatalytic hydrogen production (145.0μmolg-1h-1) and RhB solution (1×10-5M) was completely degraded within 100min under visible light irradiation.