Abstract ZnS/PTA composites have been successfully synthesized via a green sonochemical process without surfactant or template. The incorporation of phosphotungstic acid (PTA) was confirmed by FT-IR, XRD, TEM-EDS and XPS. TEM revealed that ZnS/PTA composites were spherical in the shape. The band gap energy of ZnS/PTA10 composite was estimated to be 1.13 eV, showing a significant red-shift compared with 2.35 eV for the pure ZnS. Moreover, as PTA concentration varied from 0.005 M to 0.020 M, the red shift was more obvious. Due to the incorporation of PTA, the charge carrier separation and transfer of ZnS were promoted. Under the simulated solar irradiation, the photocatalytic activity studies also suggested that ZnS/PTA composites showed higher photodegradation rate of Rhodamine B dye than that of pure ZnS. Particularly, ZnS/PTA10 composite exhibited the highest photocatalytic efficiency. Furthermore, ZnS/PTA10 composite could keep the activity till five cycles.

中文翻译：

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掺入磷钨酸的太阳光驱动的硫化锌复合材料的光催化活性增强

摘要 ZnS/PTA 复合材料已通过绿色声化学过程成功合成，无需表面活性剂或模板。FT-IR、XRD、TEM-EDS 和 XPS 证实了磷钨酸 (PTA) 的掺入。TEM 显示 ZnS/PTA 复合材料的形状为球形。ZnS/PTA10 复合材料的带隙能量估计为 1.13 eV，与纯 ZnS 的 2.35 eV 相比，显示出明显的红移。此外，随着PTA浓度从0.005 M到0.020 M变化，红移更加明显。由于 PTA 的掺入，促进了 ZnS 的电荷载流子分离和转移。在模拟太阳照射下，光催化活性研究还表明，ZnS/PTA 复合材料对罗丹明 B 染料的光降解率高于纯 ZnS。特别，ZnS/PTA10 复合材料表现出最高的光催化效率。此外，ZnS/PTA10 复合材料可以将活性保持到五个循环。