Abstract:

Hydroxy-Fe-Al oligocations with a Keggin structure were prepared by a substitution reaction. Through the
single-molecular-layer technology, the hydroxy oligocations are intercalated into the interlayers of molybdenum disulfide, which results
in the pillared composites having the basal interlayer spacings from 1.394 to 1.513nm. With the increasing of Fe/Al molar ratio,
the interlayer spacings and the surface areas of the pillared composites decrease, while their particle sizes increase. Catalyzed by the pillared
composites, sulfide ions are oxidized into thiosulfate ions. It exhibits that their catalytic activities are 4 to 5 times higher than that of the
pristine 2H-MoS$_2$, and that their catalytic activities are enhanced upon irradiation with visible light. Such catalytic behavior results from their
more catalytically active sites, owing to their larger surface areas, and the generation of the photoinduced electron-hole pairs during the
catalytically oxidization reaction process.

Key words: molybdenum disulfide, hydroxy-Fe-Al, sulfide, catalytic oxidation