Ultrathin In4SnS8 nanosheets have been successfully synthesized via a facile thermal decomposition method. The average thickness of these In4SnS8 nanosheets is only 3.8 nm, comprising about five atomically thick layers. To our knowledge, this is the thinnest In4SnS8 nanosheet synthesized using a solution-phase chemical method. The resulting ultrathin In4SnS8 nanosheets exhibit fast adsorption–visible-light photocatalysis dual function for various organic dyes, suggesting their potential application in environmental remediation, solar energy conversion, and advanced optical/electric nanodevices.

The effect of sacrificial reagents (SRs) on photocatalytic H2 evolution rate over different photocatalysts was systematically studied. Zn0.5Cd0.5S, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), and TiO2 were chosen as typical photocatalysts, while alcohols, amines, carboxylic acids, and inorganic Na2S/Na2SO3 were chosen as SRs. The results indicate that Na2S/Na2SO3, methanol, and triethanolamine are the most suitable SRs for Zn0.5Cd0.5S, TiO2, and g-C3N4, respectively. It was found that in selecting organic SRs, both the permittivity and oxidation potential have profound effects on the H2 production efficiency, which will provide basis for choosing appropriate SRs for different photocatalysts.

Monodisperse and ultrafine ZnxCd1−xS (ZCS) nanorods with hexagonal phases were controllably synthesized by a facile one-pot approach. The band gap of these alloyed nanocrystals can be tuned in a broad range from 2.41 to 3.78 eV by simply changing the molar ratio of the two precursors. All the ZCS samples exhibit a band gap-related and aspect ratio-dependent photoresponse to visible light. Zn0.5Cd0.5S nanorods with a suitable band gap and aspect ratio display the highest photoresponse, even 25 times higher than that of Zn0.875Cd0.125S. Graphene was chosen as a co-catalyst for 1D Zn0.5Cd0.5S nanorods due to its 2D structure and excellent conductivity. The Zn0.5Cd0.5S/RGO nanocomposites with a RGO content of 2.0 wt% showed the highest photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methylene blue (MB), which is mainly due to the uniform dispersion of ZCS nanorods on RGO and the enhanced separation rate of photoinduced electrons and holes by fast transfer of the photogenerated electrons through the contact line-to-line interface between ZCS nanorods and RGO nanosheets.