Construction of hierarchical ZnIn2S4@PCN-224 heterojunction for boosting photocatalytic performance in hydrogen production and degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride

• Published in: Applied catalysis. B, Environmental Environmental, 2021-05, Vol.284, p.119762, Article 119762
• Main Authors: Jin, Pengxia, Wang, Lei, Ma, Xiaolei, Lian, Rui, Huang, Jingwei, She, Houde, Zhang, Mingyi, Wang, Qizhao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Degradation; Heterojunctions; Hydrogen production; Metal organic framework; Metal-organic frameworks; Photocatalysis; Photocatalysts; Pollutant removal; Pollutants; Porphyrins; Recombination; Structural hierarchy; Sulfides; Zirconium; ZnIn2S4
• ISSN: 0926-3373; 1873-3883
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2020.119762

A novel hierarchical ZnIn2S4@PCN-224 heterojunction is successfully established, and able to greatly enhance the photocatalytic activity in both hydrogen production and degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride. [Display omitted] •Hierarchical ZnIn2S4@PCN-224 heterojunction is built by facile solvothermal method.•ZnIn2S4@PCN-224 can greatly ameliorate the photocatalytic activity in hydrogen production and degradation.•A H2 evolution rate 0.284 mmol g−1 h−1 is obtained without Pt, higher than many contrastive ZnIn2S4-based photocatalysts in assistance of Pt.•The establishment of Z-Scheme system is responsible for the highly improved photocatalytic performance. As a typical member of sulfide family, ZnIn2S4 bears impressive activity in photocatalysis. Nonetheless, egregious recombination of photo-excited electron and hole pairs confines its practical usage. In this study, PCN-224, a metal organic framework (MOF) composed of porphyrin linkers and Zr clusters, is employed to establish a novel hierarchical structured ZnIn2S4@PCN-224 via a solvothermal method. These as-prepared composites are further evaluated by visible-light-driven photocatalysis and able to present steady performance. The optimized ZnIn2S4@PCN-224 has a hydrogen production rate of 0.284 mmol h−1 in absence of Pt, higher than many contrastive ZnIn2S4-based photocatalysts even in assistance of Pt cocatalyst. Besides, it is able to dominate the degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH), giving 99.9 % pollutant removal within 60 min, about 4.7 times higher than that catalyzed by ZnIn2S4. It is supposed that the great improvement in photocatalysis is ascribable to the establishment of Z-scheme junction between ZnIn2S4 and PCN-224.