Accelerating charge transfer for highly efficient visible-light-driven photocatalytic H2 production: In-situ constructing Schottky junction via anchoring Ni-P alloy onto defect-rich ZnS

• Published in: Applied catalysis. B, Environmental Environmental, 2020-07, Vol.269, p.118806, Article 118806
• Main Authors: Zhu, Simeng, Qian, Xinjia, Lan, Dongping, Yu, Zhiyang, Wang, Xuxu, Su, Wenyue
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anchoring; Charge transfer; Defects; Design defects; Electromagnetic absorption; Hydrogen production; Nanocomposites; Nanospheres; Ni-P alloy; Nickel base alloys; Photocatalysis; Photocatalysts; Schottky junction; Visible-light photocatalytic H2 generation; Water splitting; Zinc sulfide; Zn vacancy defects; ZnS
• ISSN: 0926-3373; 1873-3883
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2020.118806

In-situ constructing Schottky junction via anchoring Ni-P alloy onto defect-rich ZnS nanospheres for highly efficient visible-light-driven photocatalytic H2 production. [Display omitted] •A unique Schottky junction composed of Ni-P alloy and defect-rich ZnS nanospheres (Ni-P/DR-ZnS) was in-situ fabricated.•The Ni-P/DR-ZnS nanocomposites displayed excellent photocatalytic H2 evolution activity and stability under visible light.•The as-formed Schottky junction accelerated the separation and transfer of photogenerated charge carriers.•The transfer mechanism of photogenerated charge over the Ni-P/DR-ZnS was studied in detail. The development of efficient and stable photocatalysts is fundamentally required for sunlight-driven water splitting. Herein, Ni-P alloy is controllably anchored onto the surface of defect-rich ZnS (DR-ZnS) nanospheres through in-situ photodeposition strategy. The optimized Ni-P/DR-ZnS nanocomposite displays superior visible-light photocatalytic H2 production rate (69.92 μmol h−1), which is about 29 times and 3.6 times higher than that of the bare DR-ZnS and 1 wt% Pt/DR-ZnS, respectively, and a notable apparent quantum yield of 2.4 % at 420 nm. The existence of rich defects endows the DR-ZnS with visible-light absorption capability. The constructed Schottky junction between the Ni-P alloy and DR-ZnS accelerates the transfer of photogenerated electrons from DR-ZnS to Ni-P, thus boosting the photocatalytic performance. Moreover, the charge transfer process and underlying photocatalytic mechanism are unravelled by multiple in-depth characterizations. This research sheds novel light on rationally fabricating high-efficient and low-cost photocatalysts through integrating defect engineering and Schottky junction design.