Sulfur vacancy-induced 1T-MoS2 co-catalyst loaded on Zn3In2S6 for simultaneous promoting photocatalytic hydrogen evolution and pollutant degradation

Abstract

In the field of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, Zn3In2S6 has caught tremendous attention because of its suitable band gap and outstanding stability. However, the lower number of active sites as well as lower efficiency of photoproduced carrier separation restricted its further application. Introducing co-catalysts and structural defects are effective methods to solve the above problems. In this paper, Zn3In2S6 loaded metal phase MoS2 to construct flower-shaped spherical catalysts 1T-MoS2/Zn3In2S6 (M/ZIS6) with abundant sulfur vacancies. The visible-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of 2.4 % M/ZIS6 was 8.71 mmol∙g−1·h−1, which far exceeded those of pure Zn3In2S6 (0.80 mmol∙g−1·h−1) and 2.4 % Pt/Zn3In2S6 (3.86 mmol∙g−1·h−1). Moreover, 2.4 % M/ZIS6 simultaneously displayed the excellent photocatalytic degradation performance toward acid orange 7 (AO7) in the hydrogen evolution reaction process. Co-catalyst metal phase 1T -MoS2, abundant sulfur defects, and a large and dense contact interface between 1T -MoS2 and Zn3In2S6 mainly contributed to the enhanced photocatalytic performance of 2.4 % M/ZIS6. This work provided a potential concept to construct efficient photocatalysts with noble metal-free co-catalyst for bifunctional applications.