Synthesis of nanostructures of binary/ternary phase iron sulfide/selenide by hot injection route and their application as photocatalysts for degradation of red S3B dye

Iron based nanostructures of iron sulfide (FeS2), iron selenide (FeSe2) and iron sulfo selenide (FeSxSe1-x) have been synthesised by one pot approach, using Fe(III) or Fe(II) chloride as iron source and sulfur or selenium powder as S and Se source in oleylamine. These as-synthesised nanostructures were characterized by X-rays diffraction (XRD), High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and energy dispersion X-rays (EDX) spectroscopy. The as-prepared nanostructures were also investigated for their performance as photocatalysts for the degradation of a carcinogenic industrial dye RS3B directly under solar light. The detailed HR-TEM investigations show that kinetic factor (reaction time) plays a crucial role in synthesis of nanostructures and with 30 min, much better quality of nanostructures with improved crystallinity, dimensions, yields and electronic properties were obtained as-compered to those synthesized with one hour reaction time. This observation was true for all three materials (FeS2, FeSe2 and FeSSe).