Interfacial elaborating In2O3-decorated ZnO/reduced graphene oxide/ZnS heterostructure with robust internal electric field for efficient solar-driven hydrogen evolution

Abstract

Solar-driven hydrogen evolution over ZnO-ZnS heterostructures is considered as a promising strategy for sustainable-energy issues. However, the industrialization of this strategy is still constrained by suppressed carrier migration, rapid charge recombination, and the inevitable utilization of noble-metal particles. Herein, we envision a novel strategy of successfully introducing In2O3 into the ZnO-ZnS heterostructure. Benefiting from the optimized internal electric field and the charge carrier migration mode based on the direct Z-scheme, the interfacial elaborating In2O3-decorated ZnO/reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/ZnS heterostructure manifests smooth charge migration, suppressed electron–hole pair recombination, and increased surface active sites. More importantly, the in situ introduction of In2O3 optimizes the construction of the internal electric field, favoring directional light-triggered carrier migration. As a result, the light-induced electrons generated from the heterostructure can be efficiently employed for the hydrogen evolution reaction. Hence, this work would shed light on the in situ fabrication of noble-metal-free photocatalysts for solar-driven water splitting.