Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production activity of Janus Cu1.94S-ZnS spherical nanoheterostructures

Xueyi Guo; Sheng Liu; Weijia Wang; Congtan Zhu; Chongyao Li; Ying Yang; Qinghua Tian; Yong Liu

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2021.05.073

Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production activity of Janus Cu_1.94S-ZnS spherical nanoheterostructures

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2021 Oct 15:600:838-846. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.05.073. Epub 2021 May 18.

Authors

Xueyi Guo¹, Sheng Liu¹, Weijia Wang², Congtan Zhu¹, Chongyao Li¹, Ying Yang¹, Qinghua Tian¹, Yong Liu³

Affiliations

¹ School of Metallurgy and Environment, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China; Research Institute of Resource Recycling, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.
² State Key Laboratory for Powder Metallurgy, Powder Metallurgy Research Institute, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China; Institute of Clinical Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Haikou 570311, China; Research Institute of Resource Recycling, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China. Electronic address: wangweijia@csu.edu.cn.
³ State Key Laboratory for Powder Metallurgy, Powder Metallurgy Research Institute, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China; Research Institute of Resource Recycling, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.

PMID: 34051468
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.05.073

Abstract

Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution is one of the most promising approaches for efficient solar energy conversion. The light-harvesting ability and interfacial structure of heterostructured catalysts regulate the processes of photon injection and transfer, which further determines their photocatalytic performances. Here, we report a Janus Cu_1.94S-ZnS nano-heterostructured photocatalyst synthesized using a facile stoichiometrically limited cation exchange reaction. Djurleite Cu_1.94S and wurtzite ZnS share the anion skeleton, and the lattice mismatch between immiscible domains is ∼1.7%. Attributing to the high-quality interfacial structure, Janus Cu_1.94S-ZnS nanoheterostructures (NHs) show an enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of up to 0.918 mmol h^-1 g^-1 under full-spectrum irradiation, which is ∼38-fold and 17-fold more than those of sole Cu_1.94S and ZnS nanocrystals (NCs), respectively. The results indicate that cation exchange reaction is an efficient approach to construct well-ordered interfaces in hybrid photocatalysts, and it also demonstrates that reducing lattice mismatch and interfacial defects in hybrid photocatalysts is essential for enhancing their solar energy conversion performance.

Keywords: Cation exchange reaction (CE); Cu(1.94)S-ZnS; Lattice mismatch; Photocatalysts; hydrogen evolution reaction (HER); nanoheterostructures (NHs).

MeSH terms

Catalysis
Hydrogen
Sulfides*
Zinc Compounds*

Substances

Sulfides
Zinc Compounds
Hydrogen
zinc sulfide