Visible light-active CdSe/rGO heterojunction photocatalyst for improved oxidative desulfurization of thiophene

Eliminating sulfur-containing amalgams in fuels and industrial chemicals has become an essential issue for environmental remediation. Photocatalysis is an alternative eco-friendly route for oxidative desulfurization of such substances as thiophene (TP). In this work, we have prepared CdSe nanoparticles by a simple sol-gel process and coupled reduced graphene oxide (rGO) to form CdSe/rGO heterojunction photocatalyst. Exploration of the fashioned photocatalysts showed the overthrow of the visible light absorption and reduction bandgap energy of CdSe from 2.3 to 1.78 eV by adding 15 wt % of rGO. Also, the suppression of the photoinduced charge recombination confirmed by photoluminescence quenching and photocurrent experiments. The optimized CdSe/rGO photocatalyst shows bursting photooxidation of TP in 90 min of visible light exposure with high applicability. This work will lead to the widespread application of metal chalcogenide-built photocatalysts to oxidize the TPs under visible light.