Photocatalytic activity of XInS₂ (X: Ag, Cu) nanoparticles for oxidative desulfurization of diesel fuel

In this work, Ag(Cu)InS2 semiconductor nanoparticles were synthesized via microwave and solvothermal methods. The effects of synthetical parameters on the structure and morphology of the nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, UV–Vis, and EDX. The experimental results reveal that the AgInS2 compound can be crystallized in two different phases, which are tetragonal and orthorhombic. The nanoparticles size of AgInS2 is about 15-16 nm and the direct band gap energy (Eg) of 2.041. While CuInS2 has the average particle size of around 25 nm and Eg value of 3.38 eV. The catalytic activity of both AgInS2 and CuInS2 materials were performed for photocatalytic oxidative desulfurization of sulfur compounds in the commercial diesel fuel under visible light. The maximum oxidation efficiency of 98.05% was achieved for AgInS2 catalyst after 8 hours of reaction time.