Photocatalytic activity of XInS2 (X: Ag, Cu) nanoparticles for oxidative desulfurization of diesel fuel

https://doi.org/10.62239/jca.2024.050

Abstract

In this work, Ag(Cu)InS₂ semiconductor nanoparticles were synthesized via microwave and solvothermal methods. The effects of synthetical parameters on the structure and morphology of the nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, UV–Vis, and EDX. The experimental results reveal that the AgInS₂ compound can be crystallized in two different phases, which are tetragonal and orthorhombic. The nanoparticles size of AgInS₂ is about 15-16 nm and the direct band gap energy (E_g) of 2.041. While CuInS₂ has the average particle size of around 25 nm and Eg value of 3.38 eV. The catalytic activity of both AgInS₂ and CuInS₂ materials were performed for photocatalytic oxidative desulfurization of sulfur compounds in the commercial diesel fuel under visible light. The maximum oxidation efficiency of 98.05% was achieved for AgInS₂ catalyst after 8 hours of reaction time.