Combustion synthesis of CdS/reduced graphene oxide composites and their photocatalytic properties

[Display omitted] •CdS/reduced graphene oxide composites were prepared by a combustion method.•The phase changed from hexagonal to cubic phase by increasing the added amount of GO.•The composites showed excellent visible-light photocatalytic properties.•The plausible mechanism of photodegradation was discussed. CdS/reduced graphene oxide composites were synthesized by a simple one-pot combustion method using cadmium nitrate, thiourea and graphite as raw materials. The structure, morphologies, and photocatalytic properties of the as-prepared samples were studied by means of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, photoluminescence and ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry. The results show that the structure of CdS in as-prepared samples changes from hexagonal to cubic phase by increasing the added amount of graphene oxide. During combustion reaction, graphene oxide was reduced to reduced graphene oxide. As-obtained CdS/reduced graphene oxide composites show high visible-light photoactivities, attributed to the minimized recombination of photoinduced electrons and holes and the high surface area of reduced graphene oxide sheets.