In situ growth of ZnIn2S4 nanosheets on 2D NiFeS sheets from vulcanization of Ni–Fe LDH for enhancing photocatalytic hydrogen production

Abstract

In this paper, 2-dimensional (2D) ZnIn2S4/NiFeS novel junctions were constructed through in-situ growing ZnIn2S4 nanosheets on 2D large NiFeS sheets with large specific area which were prepared from vulcanization of layer-structured Ni–Fe LDH by a solvent-thermal method. The rough and porous surface of FeNiS, as demonstrated by SEM pictures, endowed the heterojunction large interfacial area and more active sites for hydrogen evolution. Various tests indicate that the integration of a small amount of NiFeS in the heterojunction greatly improved carrier separation efficiency, migration rate, and surface H2 evolution activity, leading to the enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production ability. Optimal 0.6%-NFS/ZIS composite shows the highest photocatalytic H2 evolution rate of 1506 μmol h−1 g−1, 2.4 times that of ZnIn2S4. This study provides a novel and cost-effective approach improving photocatalytic H2 evolution activity of sulfides in visible-light-driven water splitting.