Issue 4, 2020

An artificially constructed direct Z-scheme heterojunction: WO3 nanoparticle decorated ZnIn2S4 for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production

Abstract

Photocatalytic H2 evolution has been proven as one of the promising strategies for addressing global energy and environmental issues. Herein, a binary Z-scheme heterostructure of a WO3/ZnIn2S4 photocatalyst was artificially constructed through a simple hydrothermal method. A variety of characterization tests were employed to prove the effective coupling of WO3 nanoparticles and ZnIn2S4 particles for the fabrication of the WO3/ZnIn2S4 heterostructure. It was found that the decoration of WO3 nanoparticles could significantly promote the photocatalytic H2 evolution activity of ZnIn2S4 under visible-light irradiation, and the H2 evolution rate of 5 wt% WO3/ZnIn2S4 composite could reach 1945.88 μmol h−1 g−1, which was 7.9 times that of pristine ZnIn2S4 and could rival that of previously reported ZnIn2S4-based photocatalysts. On the basis of photoelectrochemical results, the direct Z-scheme heterojunction rather than the type-II heterojunction was proposed to explain the significantly enhanced photocatalytic performance of the WO3/ZnIn2S4 photocatalyst. The enhancement of photocatalytic activity could be attributed to the efficient Z-direction charge transfer at the WO3/ZnIn2S4 heterostructure interface, thus reducing the recombination rate of the photogenerated carriers of the system. This work provides new insights into the construction of direct Z-scheme heterostructured ZnIn2S4-based photocatalysts for highly efficient photocatalytic H2 evolution.

Graphical abstract: An artificially constructed direct Z-scheme heterojunction: WO3 nanoparticle decorated ZnIn2S4 for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 Nov 2019
Accepted
02 Jan 2020
First published
02 Jan 2020

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2020,4, 1681-1692

An artificially constructed direct Z-scheme heterojunction: WO3 nanoparticle decorated ZnIn2S4 for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production

Y. Wang, D. Chen, Y. Hu, L. Qin, J. Liang, X. Sun and Y. Huang, Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2020, 4, 1681 DOI: 10.1039/C9SE01158G

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