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Research Article

Boosting photocatalytic hydrogen production via interfacial engineering over a Z-scheme core/shell heterojunction

Bing Luo1, Jinghua Li2, Wei Wang1, Chaoqian Ai2, Haihan Zhang1, Yuxin Zhao1( ), Dengwei Jing2( )
School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
International Research Center for Renewable Energy & State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
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Graphical Abstract

A noble-metal-free core/shell photocatalyst was prepared for H2 production. The interfacial electric field and redox shuttles synergistically strengthened the charge carriers transfer, thus notably improving the H2 production.

Abstract

Designing high efficacy photocatalysts is a promising way to improve solar fuel production efficiency. In this work, we prepared a core/shell composite of loose ZnCr layered double hydroxide nanosheets modified CdS nanorods for efficient visible light driven photocatalytic hydrogen production. The highest hydrogen production rate achieved 425.8 μmol·h−1 without adding any noble metal cocatalyst under the visible light stimulus, which is 22.4 times that of 1 wt.% Pt-modified CdS. The corresponding apparent quantum yield is 13.9% at 420 nm. It is revealed that the synergistic actions of the interfacial redox shuttle of Cr3+/Crδ+ and the interfacial electric field enable the efficient separation of photoinduced charge carriers between two components via a Z-scheme energy band configuration. Meanwhile, with the hydrogen evolution contribution of Zn2+, a remarkable improvement in photocatalytic performance was achieved in contrast to bare CdS. This work provides an effective methodology to construct highly efficient and economically viable photocatalysts for solar H2 production and mechanistic study.

Keywords

photocatalysisheterojunctioninterfacial engineeringnoble metal freehydrogen production

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Nano Research
Volume 16 Issue 1,
January 2023
Pages 352-359
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-022-4825-1
Cite this article:
Luo B, Li J, Wang W, et al. Boosting photocatalytic hydrogen production via interfacial engineering over a Z-scheme core/shell heterojunction. Nano Research, 2023, 16(1): 352-359. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4825-1
Topics:
Hydrogen fuelsPhotocatalysis

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Received: 28 June 2022
Revised: 14 July 2022
Accepted: 26 July 2022
Published: 02 September 2022
© Tsinghua University Press 2022
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