Heterojunction Engineering of Multinary Metal Sulfide‐Based Photocatalysts for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) 2024-03, Vol.36 (11), p.e2305835-n/a
• Main Authors: Song, Yiming, Zheng, Xinlong, Yang, Yuqi, Liu, Yuhao, Li, Jing, Wu, Daoxiong, Liu, Weifeng, Shen, Yijun, Tian, Xinlong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Charge transfer; charge transfer behavior; heterojunction; Heterojunctions; Hydrogen evolution; multinary metal sulfides; Photocatalysis; Photocatalysts; photocatalytic hydrogen evolution; Structural stability; Water splitting
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.202305835

Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution (PHE) via water splitting using semiconductor photocatalysts is an effective path to solve the current energy crisis and environmental pollution. Heterojunction photocatalysts, containing two or more semiconductors, exhibit better PHE rates than those with only one semiconductor owing to the altered band alignment at the interface and stronger driving force for charge separation. Traditional binary metal sulfide (BMS)‐based heterojunction photocatalysts, such as CdS, MoS2, and PbS, demonstrate excellent PHE performance. However, the recently developed multinary metal sulfide (MMS)‐based photocatalysts possess favorable chemical stability, tunable band structure, and flexible element compositions, and have considerable potential to realize higher PHE rates than those of BMSs. In this review article, the mechanism of PHE is first elucidated and then various single and heterojunction MMS‐based photocatalysts and their charge transfer behaviors and PHE performances are systematically summarized. A perspective on potential future research directions in this field is concluded. The construction of advanced semiconductor photocatalyst is of great significance for the realization of efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution (PHE) via water splitting. This review comprehensively summarizes the representative construction strategies of multinary‐metal‐sulfide‐based heterojunction photocatalysts in PHE application, which provides guidance for accelerate the development of solar‐to‐hydrogen and PHE via overall water splitting.