Black phosphorus analogue- 0D/2D multistructure of Tin(II) monosulfide for improved photocatalytic hydrogen evolution and pollutant removal

Abstract

In the present era, eco-friendly green hydrogen production is emerging as a very important technology. Photocatalytic hydrogen generation is a field that must be developed as a future-oriented technology. SnS has a low electron affinity, low enough to generate hydrogen from water, and has a small ionization potential, so it can absorb a wide range of visible light. We successfully synthesized 0D/2D SnS multi structures using hydrothermal methods and demonstrated that when the band gap of SnS is wider and tuned than that of bulk materials, this material can be used for more efficient photocatalytic applications. In addition to the chromium hexavalent (CrVI) reduction and organic dye reduction photocatalysts, the efficiency was improved by about 2 times in the hydrogen generation photocatalyst. Because each dimension shape of SnS has a different bandgap, SnS can act as a donor/acceptor as a heterojunction. This increases the lifetime and reduces the electron–hole recombination rate. Designing and fabricating bandgap energy-matched nanocomposite photocatalysts could provide a fundamental direction to solving future clean energy challenges. Since SnS is composed of safe and abundant elements and SnS QDs and various structures can be synthesized using simple wet chemistry methods applicable to mass production, the SnS material described here is suitable for future solar hydrogen production. In addition, band control and performance improvement through material structuring are expected to be widely applied to other materials.