Efficient utilization of photogenerated electrons and holes for photocatalytic redox reactions using visible light-driven Au/ZnIn2S4 hybrid

Taotao Zhu; Xiangju Ye; Qiaoqiao Zhang; Zhenzhen Hui; Xuchun Wang; Shifu Chen

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.12.093

Efficient utilization of photogenerated electrons and holes for photocatalytic redox reactions using visible light-driven Au/ZnIn₂S₄ hybrid

J Hazard Mater. 2019 Apr 5:367:277-285. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.12.093. Epub 2018 Dec 24.

Authors

Taotao Zhu¹, Xiangju Ye², Qiaoqiao Zhang¹, Zhenzhen Hui³, Xuchun Wang³, Shifu Chen⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Anhui Science and Technology University, Anhui, Bengbu, 233030, PR China; Key Lab of Clean Energy and Green Circulation, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei, 235000, PR China.
² College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Anhui Science and Technology University, Anhui, Bengbu, 233030, PR China. Electronic address: yexiangju555@126.com.
³ College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Anhui Science and Technology University, Anhui, Bengbu, 233030, PR China.
⁴ College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Anhui Science and Technology University, Anhui, Bengbu, 233030, PR China; Key Lab of Clean Energy and Green Circulation, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei, 235000, PR China. Electronic address: chshifu@chnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 30597372
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.12.093

Abstract

In this study, a new photocatalytic reaction system for simultaneous selective oxidation of aromatic alcohols to corresponding aldehydes and reduction of protons to H₂ has been developed. The results reveal that compared with pure ZnIn₂S₄, the ZnIn₂S₄ photocatalysts modified with noble metal gold (Au/ZnIn₂S₄) significantly promote the photocatalytic performance. Among them, the 0.5% Au/ZnIn₂S₄ nanosheets shows the highest photocatalytic activity for selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde and hydrogen production, and the yields of H₂ and benzaldehyde are 326.68 and 352.04 μmol under visible light irradiation for 4 h, respectively. Those are about 4.4 and 3.6 times higher than those of pure ZnIn₂S₄ sample (74.0 μmol H₂ and 98.04 μmol benzaldehyde), respectively. The utilization ratio of photogenerated electrons to holes can achieve 92.8%. Additionally, the control experiments demonstrate that the photogenerated electrons and holes play significant roles during the reaction process. It is hoped that the current work can offer an avenue to utilize the photogenerated carriers more efficiently and to develop other photocatalytic reaction systems, such as nitrogen fixation and reduction of carbon dioxide.

Keywords: Aromatic alcohol; Aromatic aldehyde; Au/ZnIn(2)S(4); Hydrogen evolution; Photocatalysis.