Construction of Direct Z-Scheme Heterojunction NiFe-Layered Double Hydroxide (LDH)/Zn0.5Cd0.5S for Photocatalytic H2 Evolution

Yidong Sun; Xingpu Wang; Qiang Fu; Chunxu Pan

doi:10.1021/acsami.1c09650

Construction of Direct Z-Scheme Heterojunction NiFe-Layered Double Hydroxide (LDH)/Zn_0.5Cd_0.5S for Photocatalytic H₂ Evolution

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021 Aug 25;13(33):39331-39340. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c09650. Epub 2021 Aug 10.

Authors

Yidong Sun¹, Xingpu Wang², Qiang Fu^{1

3}, Chunxu Pan^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ School of Physics and Technology, and MOE Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
² Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China.
³ Center for Electron Microscopy, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.

PMID: 34376045
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c09650

Abstract

It is of great significance to construct heterojunctions using industrially produced co-catalysts. The direct Z-scheme composite photocatalyst provides an effective separation of photogenerated carriers. Herein, a kind of novel 2D/3D direct Z-scheme NiFe-LDH/Zn_0.5Cd_0.5S is prepared. Compared with fresh catalysts, the NiFe-layered double hydroxide (LDH)/Zn_0.5Cd_0.5S composite exhibits advantages including excellent visible light response ability and photoelectric performance and improved H₂ evolution rate by 11.6 times. Combining with theoretical calculations, ESR, XPS, and experimental results, the direct Z-scheme mechanism of the photocatalytic reaction is proposed. There is a channel for electron transfer between Zn_0.5Cd_0.5S and NiFe-LDH, and the electrons of Zn_0.5Cd_0.5S directly combine with the valence band holes of NiFe-LDH. Finally, the electrons remaining on NiFe-LDH can reduce H⁺ to generate H₂. This process effectively achieves separation of photogenerated carriers and increases photocatalytic H₂ evolution.

Keywords: NiFe-LDH/Zn0.5Cd0.5S; direct Z-scheme photocatalyst; energy conversion; photocatalytic H2 evolution.