Visible light driven photocatalytic H2 generation property of trigonal ZnIn2S4 prepared by high temperature solid state reaction

Abstract

For the first time, we prepared the trigonal ZnIn2S4 (in the space group R-3m) by typical solid state reaction at 700 °C in an evacuated quartz tube. It has a high crystallinity indicated by sharp reflection peaks in X-ray diffraction pattern, and its suitable band structure ensure the visible light driven photocatalytic H2 generation in Na2S and Na2SO3 aqueous solution. The as-prepared ZnIn2S4 possesses a constant photocatalytic H2 generation rate of ∼32 μmol/g/h after 5 cycles, which could be significantly enhanced to 1582 μmol/g/h by co-loading 0.5 wt% Pt and 0.5 wt% Pd. By varying the incident beam intensity, the apparent quantum yield of photocatalytic water reduction was evaluated and optimized to 3.57(1)% at 405 nm.