Construction of Hybrid MoS2 Phase Coupled with SiC Heterojunctions with Promoted Photocatalytic Activity for 4-Nitrophenol Degradation.

Phase engineering has been recognized as a promising method for boosting the catalytic activity of molybdenum sulfide (MoS2) in the field of electrocatalysts and photocatalysts. The metallic 1T-MoS2 exhibits much higher catalytic activity than natural semiconducting 2H-MoS2 but suffers from harsh synthetic conditions and metastable physical/chemical properties. The hybrid 1T/2H phase MoS2 shows higher catalytic activity than the 2H-MoS2 and exhibits better stability than the 1T-MoS2, which is more favorable than the 2H-MoS2 in the photocatalytic reactions. In this study, we report a hydrothermal synthesis of the hybrid 1T/2H-MoS2 phase coupled with SiC as a heterojunction photocatalyst for 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) degradation. SiC acts as a counterpart of the heterojunction structure and a morphology modifier, which dramatically promotes the reaction rate and visible light responsibility, providing new candidates and strategies in photocatalysis.