Tailoring the bandgap of zinc indium sulfide/boroncarbonitride heterostructure for efficient photocatalytic CO2 reduction

Abstract

Many efforts have been devoted to the reduction of atmospheric CO2 and the development of a route map for sustainability in the energy and environmental sectors. The present work describes the bandgap tailoring of the ternary metal sulfide ZnIn2S4 (ZIS) with two-dimensional (2D) boroncarbonitride (BCN) and a constructed heterostructure. The ratio of BCN to ZIS has been varied in different ratios and examined for morphological, structural, and optical characterization. The crystalline structure of the synthesized materials was subjected to Materials Studio software, which examined the geometry, stacking, and interaction between ZIS and layered BCN. ZIS/BCN-1 is found to be efficient compared to all other counter catalysts under study. Diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) and Gas Chromatography Mass spectrophotometry (GC-MS) analysis confirm the formation of carbon monoxide and methane gas. In the presence of ZIS/BCN-1, it was found to produce 158 and 57 μmol g−1h−1 of CO and CH4, respectively, during CO2 reduction under visible light. The effect of sacrificial agents has been investigated, and found that triethanolamine (TEOA) showed enhanced activity compared to others. The mechanism of photocatalysis has been discussed in detail and found to form type-II heterostructure through the interface between ZIS and BCN. The stability of ZIS/BCN-1 is good even after 5 cycles of the CO2 reduction experiment, and no structural changes were found.