| dc.description.abstract | Recently, increasing attention has been paid to energy issues, especially in relation to environmental protection and energy scarcity, which are the most challenging aspects of the future. Therefore, the development of renewable energy has become the best solution for addressing energy shortages and promoting sustainable development. Hydrogen energy is one type of renewable and clean energies carrier, whose representative reaction is light-driven water splitting for hydrogen evolution. It can replace fossil fuels without causing environmental pollution. Hence, it’s important to develop efficient photocatalysts that can be used in hydrogen energy. Transition metal sulfides are among the most efficient photocatalysts in the field of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, but their hydrogen evolution efficiency is hindered by the rapid recombination of photogenerated charge carriers, presenting a major challenge. Therefore, in this study, we attempted to modify transition metal sulfides to improve their photocatalytic efficiency.
We synthesized a heterostructured composite consisting of the organic metal-organic framework (MOF) MIL-68-NH2 and the transition metal sulfide ZnIn2S4 (ZIS) by a simple oil bath method to further enhance the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance of ZIS. MIL-68-NH2 possesses a high surface area and a unique tubular structure. Therefore, the introduction of MIL-68-NH2 not only increases the surface area of the photocatalyst for light absorption but also exposes more active sites for reaction. In addition, during the formation of the MIL-68-NH2@ZnIn2S4 composite, MIL-68-NH2 forms a hollow structure, further increasing the number of active sites. Moreover, the heterostructure composite effectively expands the light absorption range.
In order to keep the cost down, t this study didn’t add any additional precious metals, e.g., Pt and Au as co-catalyst in the reaction. The highest hydrogen evolution rate of the optimal ratio sample MIL10020@ZIS reaches up to 1901 µmol/g/h under 100 mW/cm2 of visible light intensity at room temperature. | en_US |