Cadmium-Sulfide Doped Carbon Nanoflakes Used for Sunlight-Assisted Selective Photodegradation of Indigo Carmine

Herein, we have fabricated cadmium-sulfide (CdS)-doped glucose-derived carbon nanoflakes (CNF) via a simple two-step methodology. The as-prepared CdS-doped CNF (CdS-CNF) shows selective photocatalytic activity toward the degradation of organic dye named Indigo Carmine (IC) from the tested nine model organic dyes importantly under the influence of sunlight. The viability of sunlight-promoted photodegradation was supported via comparative half-life (t 1/2) values, which is ∼14 min–1 for sunlight compared to ∼125 min–1 for artificial bulb light. The photodegradation of IC follows pseudo-first-order kinetics, and the rate associated with the sunlight-promoted photodegradation is ∼8 times faster compared to the reaction under artificial bulb light. Based on the trap experiments, the photocatalytic degradation mechanism showed the involvement of superoxide radicals. The photodegradation results are supported via a comparative proton nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic analysis. Additionally, CdS-CNF is used to degrade IC dye from industrially spiked wastewater samples to demonstrate its potential as a photocatalyst for real-life applications.