Oxygen doping and interface engineering in O-MoS2&rGO heterostructure for efficient piezocatalytic dye degradation

To further apply MoS₂ as a promising non-noble catalyst for addressing environmental issues, its catalytic ability must be improved. As a result of the hetero-atom doping effect and varied structure phase of MoS₂, we demonstrated excellent piezocatalysis for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye under stirring/ultrasonic catalyzed by MoS₂. Compared with pristine MoS₂ and O-doping MoS₂ (O-MoS₂), O-MoS₂& reduced graphene oxide (O-MoS₂&rGO) exhibits enhanced piezocatalytic activity. When the initial concentration of MB solution is ≤ 15 mg L⁻¹, both stirring and ultrasonication can make the optimal O-MoS₂&rGO composite to degrade the dye completely within 20 min. The experimental results have led to the proposal of a mechanism that elucidates the enhancement effect of rGO and O doping on the piezocatalytic performance of MoS₂. This study highlights the significance of constructing heterostructure interfaces and the impact of hetero-atom doping on the promotion of piezocatalysis efficiency.

Graphical abstract

Boosting the catalytic ability of MoS₂ is vital to its further application as a class of promising non-noble catalysts to address environmental issues. Benefiting from the O-doping-induced electronic effect and interfacial coupling and synergistic effect between MoS₂ and reduced graphene oxide (rGO), the as-prepared O-MoS₂&rGO heterogeneous catalyst exhibits enhanced degradation efficiency for methylene blue (MB) dye.