Facile synthesis of CuS nanostructures: Structural, optical and photocatalytic properties

Devising a facile synthetic approach to explore wider applications of copper chalcogenides has been a challenge and a topic of great interest. Achieving highly ordered structures with phase purity is highly desirable in this regard. Here we report a facile template free synthesis methodology of copper sulfide (CuS) nanopetals and nanopetals-based architectures by a simple reaction of Cu²⁺ ions with S^2- ions, optimized by use of several solvents (dimethyl formamide, ethanol and ethylene glycol). Hexagonal covellite CuS with high phase purity and crystallinity was obtained with different morphologies in a variety of reaction media. A study of the structural, optical and photocatalytic properties of the as-prepared products has been carried out and the possible growth mechanism has been elucidated. Moreover, CuS nanostructures with hierarchical architecture have demonstrated superior photocatalytic performance when activated in the visible region over the other types of synthesized nanostructures and commercially available CuS powders.