Boosting Visible-Light Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution with an Efficient CuInS2/ZnIn2S4 2D/2D Heterojunction

• Published in: ACS sustainable chemistry & engineering Vol. 7; no. 8; pp. 7736 - 7742
• Main Authors: Guan, Zhongjie, Pan, Jingwen, Li, Qiuye, Li, Guoqiang, Yang, Jianjun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 15.04.2019
• Subjects: hydrogen; hydrogen production; nanosheets; photocatalysis; photocatalysts; Solar hydrogen production; CuInS2/ZnIn2S4 2D/2D heterojunction; Charge separation
• ISSN: 2168-0485; 2168-0485
• DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b06587

Developing photocatalysts with a high-efficiency charge separation remains a challenge in the solar hydrogen production. Herein, we devised and prepared a unique 2D/2D heterojunction of CuInS2/ZnIn2S4 nanosheets for solar hydrogen evolution. Structural characterizations reveal that the CuInS2/ZnIn2S4 2D/2D heterojunction with lattice match consists of the thin thickness of nanosheets and has a large interface contact area, boosting charges transfer and separation. Benefiting from the favorable 2D/2D heterojunction structure, the CuInS2/ZnIn2S4 2D/2D heterojunction photocatalyst with 5 wt % CuInS2 yields the highest H2 evolution rate of 3430.2 μmol·g–1·h–1. In addition, the apparent quantum efficiency of 5%CuInS2/ZnIn2S4 2D/2D heterojunction reaches 12.4% at 420 nm, which is high among the ZnIn2S4-based 2D/2D heterojunctions. The enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution comes from the boosting charge separation. This work demonstrates that a 2D/2D heterojunction provides a potential way for significantly improving the solar hydrogen production performance of ZnIn2S4.