Promoted photocatalytic H2 evolution over NiS/BaSnO3 nanocomposite photocatalyst prepared by modified sol-gel method

Abstract

Barium stannate (BaSnO3) nanostructures have been synthesized by supercritical drying of its sol-gel-prepared seeds. Following this, Nickel sulfide nanoparticles (NiS) were impregnated with BaSnO3 at ratios of 3.0‒12.0 wt.% to produce NiS/BaSnO3 nanocomposite photocatalysts. Different characterization tools evaluated the formed nanostructures. The results revealed the positive impact of adding NiS for improving light harvesting and suppression of charge recombination. The produced heterostructures also were employed for H2 evolution in the water/glycerol system under visible light. The 9.0 wt.% NiS-impregnated BaSnO3 designated the lowest predicted bandgap of 2.36 eV with amended photoactivity in addition to the high surface area of 179 m2 g‒1. Likewise, the evolved H2 rate is improved by employing this heterostructure to 1.935 mmol g−1h−1 compared to 0.168 mmol g−1h−1 for the pristine BaSnO3. Moreover, the 2.0 gL−1 dose of 9% NiS/BaSnO3 revealed the promotion of H2 evolution to 2.902 mmol g−1h−1 and 97.5% regeneration ability within five cycles.