Vacancy-induced 2H@1T MoS2 phase-incorporation on ZnIn2S4 for boosting photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

• Published in: Applied catalysis. B, Environmental Environmental, 2021-12, Vol.298, p.120570, Article 120570
• Main Authors: Peng, Yanhua, Geng, Mengjie, Yu, Jianqiang, Zhang, Yan, Tian, Fenghui, Guo, Ya’nan, Zhang, Dongsheng, Yang, Xiaolong, Li, Zhuo, Li, Zixin, Zhang, Shengyue
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 2H@1T MoS2 phase-incorporation; Catalytic activity; Clean fuels; Electronic structure; Hydrogen evolution; Lattice vacancies; Molybdenum disulfide; Photocatalysis; Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution; Recombination; Sulfur; Sulfur vacancies; Synergistic modulation
• ISSN: 0926-3373; 1873-3883
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2021.120570

[Display omitted] •A facile MoS2 phase-incorporation strategy for fabricating the highly efficient photocatalysts is proposed.•The in-plane sulfur vacancies induce the transformation of the surrounding 1T-MoS2 local lattice into a 2H phase.•2H@1T-MoS2 phase-incorporation prompts synergistic regulations of both structural and electronic benefits.•ZnIn2S4@MoS2 photocatalysts possess rich exposed active sites and high electronic conductivity.•ZnIn2S4@MoS2 photocatalysts exhibit high and stable photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution (PHE) is of great significance to pursue sustainable and clean fuel, however, it remains a great challenge due to the high recombination of photo-generated carriers and low efficiency of surface catalytic activity. Here, we discover the synergistic regulations of both structural and electronic benefits by introducing sulfur vacancies in a 1T-MoS2 nanosheets host to prompt the transformation of the surrounding 1T-MoS2 local lattice into a 2H phase, leading to the dramatically enhanced PHE activity. Multiple in situ spectroscopic and microscopic characterizations combined with theoretical calculations demonstrated that in-plane sulfur vacancies as active sites can activate the proton, while the 2H@1T-MoS2 phase-incorporation can effectively regulate the electronic structure and further improve the conductivity. Therefore, the optimized ZnIn2S4@MoS2 photocatalyst achieves a high PHE activity of 23,233 μmol g−1 with an apparent quantum yield (AQY) of ∼5.09 %. This work provides a new design for improving the photocatalytic activity by synergistically structural and electronic modulations.