Highly efficient visible-light photocatalytic hydrogen production using ZIF-derived Co9S8/N, S-CNTs-ZnIn2S4 composite

Abstract

A hierarchical Co9S8/N, S-CNTs-ZnIn2S4 (CSCNs-ZIS) composite was reasonably constructed by grafting ZnIn2S4 nanosheets on the ZIF (67) derived Co9S8/N, S-doped carbon nanotubes for effective photocatalytic hydrogen production. The aggregated ZnIn2S4 nanosheets were uniformly wrapped on the surface of CSCNs, forming a hierarchical core–shell configuration, which effective inhibition of charge-carrier recombination. The CSCNs was adopted as an effective multi-component co-catalyst and further promoted photocatalytic hydrogen production performance. The H2 production rate of optimized CSCNs-ZIS composite reached 2409.2 μmol·h−1·g−1 and has high stability after three cycles. This work may inspire the design of a new noble-metal-free multi-component co-catalyst for sustainable H2 production.