A CuS/Fe₂TiO₅ Heterojunction Photocatalyst for Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Degradation of Rhodamine B

Constructing heterojunctions is important for improving the photocatalytic performance of materials. In this study, porous Fe2TiO5 was prepared via a sol-gel method, and CuS was grown in situ on its surface through a hydrothermal process, thereby successfully synthesizing CuS/Fe2TiO5 heterojunction composites. The CuS/Fe2TiO5 composites were characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis. The results indicated that CuS is uniformly loaded on the surface of Fe2TiO5, with lattice spacings of 0.3550 and 0.2972 nm corresponding to CuS and Fe2TiO5, respectively, and no impurity phases were observed. Heterojunction construction induced distortion of the TiO6 octahedra at the interface, resulting in the emergence of a new absorption peak in the ultraviolet region. Among the samples, the 20 wt.% CuS/Fe2TiO5 (denoted as 20CuF2) composite exhibited a specific surface area (SBET = 6.17 m²/g) between those of CuS (SBET = 4.87 m²/g) and Fe2TiO5 (SBET = 7.71 m2/g). Its band gap was tuned to 1.78 eV, and the photoluminescence intensity was significantly reduced. A CuS/Fe2TiO5 heterojunction composite was applied to facilitate the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB), achieving a degradation efficiency of 91.8%. The heterojunction catalysts developed in this study enable the effective degradation of pollutants in wastewater, providing a feasible technical reference for catalyst development and application.Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

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