Highly effective direct decomposition of organic pollutants via Ag–Zn co-doped In2S3/rGO photocatalyst

Currently, novel photocatalysts have attracted increasing attention to effectively utilizing abundant solar energy to meet the energy demands of humans and mitigate environmental burdens. In this work, we developed a novel and highly efficient photocatalyst consisting of In2S3 doped with two elements (Ag and Zn) and decorated with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets. The crystal structure, morphology, electrical properties, and optical properties of the prepared materials were studied using various analytical techniques, and their photocatalytic activity was thoroughly investigated. It was confirmed that within 10 min, over 97% decomposition of organic dyes was achieved by using Ag–Zn co-doped In2S3/rGO catalyst, while only 50 and 60% decompositions were achieved by conventional pure In2S3 and In2S3/rGO nanocomposite, respectively. Its photoelectrochemical (PEC) water-splitting performance was also significantly improved (∼120%) compared with pure In2S3 nanoparticles. This study provides a new vision of using Ag–Zn:In2S3 decorated on rGO sheets as an efficient photocatalyst under solar light irradiation for environmental remediation and hydrogen production. [Display omitted] •Photocatalyst consisting of Ag–Zn co-doped In2S3 supported rGO sheets was prepared by single-step solvothermal process.•The degradation efficiency of different organic dyes over Ag–Zn co-doped In2S3/rGO catalyst reached 97% within 10 min.•The Ag–Zn co-doped In2S3/rGO catalyst showed similar photodegradation performance under artificial and natural solar light.•The h+ played a leading role in the photocatalytic degradation process.•Ag–Zn co-doped In2S3/rGO exhibited ∼120% PEC water splitting performance improvement compared to conventional pure In2S3.