Synthesis of ZnIn2S4@Co3S4 particles derived from ZIF-67 for photocatalytic hydrogen production

Ganyu Wang; Wenqian Chen; Yu Zhang; Qinshang Xu; Yirui Li; Maw Lin Foo; Liang Tang

doi:10.1039/d0ra10799a

Synthesis of ZnIn₂S₄@Co₃S₄ particles derived from ZIF-67 for photocatalytic hydrogen production

RSC Adv. 2021 Mar 1;11(16):9296-9302. doi: 10.1039/d0ra10799a.

Authors

Ganyu Wang^{1

2}, Wenqian Chen^{1

2}, Yu Zhang^{1

2}, Qinshang Xu^{1

2}, Yirui Li^{1

2}, Maw Lin Foo³, Liang Tang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Organic Compound Pollution Control Engineering, Ministry of Education, Shanghai University Shanghai 200444 PR. China.
² School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University Shanghai 200444 PR China wenqianchen@shu.edu.cn tang1liang@shu.edu.cn.
³ Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore 117543 Singapore.

Abstract

In this work, ZIF-67 derivative Co₃S₄ with diamond dodecahedron structure was firstly synthesized via a series of reactions, and ZnIn₂S₄@Co₃S₄ heterostructures with adjustable band gaps were successfully obtained through a simple hydrothermal method. Consequently, ZnIn₂S₄@Co₃S₄ heterostructures have significantly enhanced visible light absorption and improved photocatalytic efficiency, among which the ZC-5 composite exhibits the highest photocatalytic hydrogen production rate up to 4261 μmol g^-1 h^-1 under simulated sunlight, to be approximately 4.8 times higher than that of pure ZnIn₂S₄. The enhanced photocatalytic activity can be attributed to faster electron transfer and more efficient electron-hole pairs separation derived from the heterostructures which form at the interface between Co₃S₄ and ZnIn₂S₄. Thus, this study provides a good strategy for photocatalytic hydrogen production without precious metals using heterostructures.