Abstract
Hydrogen is considered to be a very efficient and clean fuel since it is a renewable and non-polluting gas with a high energy density; thus, it has drawn much attention as an alternative fuel, in order to alleviate the issue of global warming caused by the excess use of fossil fuels. In this work, a novel Cu/ZnS/COF composite photocatalyst with a core–shell structure was synthesized for photocatalytic hydrogen production via water splitting. The Cu/ZnS/COF microspheres formed by Cu/ZnS crystal aggregation were covered by a microporous thin-film COF with a porous network structure, where COF was also modified by the dual-effective redox sites of C=O and N=N. The photocatalytic hydrogen production results showed that the hydrogen production rate reached 278.4 µmol g−1 h−1, which may be attributed to its special structure, which has a large number of active sites, a more negative conduction band than the reduction of H+ to H2, and the ability to inhibit the recombination of electron–hole pairs. Finally, a possible mechanism was proposed to effectively explain the improved photocatalytic performance of the photocatalytic system. The present work provides a new concept, in order to construct a highly efficient hydrogen production catalyst and broaden the applications of ZnS-based materials.
Highlights
Fossil fuels, such as petroleum, natural gas, and coal, play a significant role in the world’s energy supply, which exacerbates the depletion of hydrocarbon fuel resources [1].The combustion of the fossil fuels can produce various gases, including carbon oxides, surfer oxides and nitrogen oxides, which may cause global environmental problems [2,3].As a result, the development of clean, sustainable, and renewable energy is an indispensable part of future energy strategies [4]
ZnS was doped with different ratios of Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) to synthesize composite photocatalyst
ZnS/0.5COF has the largest negative conduction band (CB) edge, which is closest to the CB for hydrogen production; it has an excellent potential for catalytic hydrogen production
Summary
Fossil fuels, such as petroleum, natural gas, and coal, play a significant role in the world’s energy supply, which exacerbates the depletion of hydrocarbon fuel resources [1].The combustion of the fossil fuels can produce various gases, including carbon oxides, surfer oxides and nitrogen oxides, which may cause global environmental problems [2,3].As a result, the development of clean, sustainable, and renewable energy is an indispensable part of future energy strategies [4]. Due to the high energy density, renewable characteristics, and free pollution of hydrogen, it is regarded as a very efficient and clean fuel [5]. Solar energy is a free, abundant, and renewable clean energy, and it is used in photocatalytic processes to harvest and convert solar energy into usable hydrogen energy [6]. The rational design and development of efficient photocatalysts are important to further improve the performance of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution [8]. Metal sulfides, such as ZnS, CdS, CdSe, and PbS, are considered as promising candidates due to their suitable band gap energy, band position, and catalytic activity [9].
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