Dodecahedral hollow multi-shelled CoO/Ag:ZnInS photocatalyst for enhancing solar energy utilization efficiency

• Published in: RSC advances 2024-02, Vol.14 (9), p.625-6215
• Main Authors: Liang, Zhiman, Bai, Bobo, Wang, Xiufang, Gao, Yu, Li, Yi, Bu, Qiuhui, Ding, Fu, Sun, Yaguang, Xu, Zhenhe
• Format: Article
• ISSN: 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/d3ra08425f

Employing semiconductor photocatalysts featuring a hollow multi-shelled (HoMs) structure to establish a heterojunction is an effective approach to addressing the issues of low light energy utilization and severe recombination of photogenerated charge carriers. To take advantage of these key factors in semiconductor photocatalysis, here, a dodecahedral HoMs Co 3 O 4 /Ag:ZnIn 2 S 4 photocatalyst (denoted as Co 3 O 4 /AZIS) was firstly synthesized by coupling Ag + -doped ZnIn 2 S 4 (AZIS) nanosheets with dodecahedral HoMs Co 3 O 4 . The unique HoMs structure of the photocatalyst can not only effectively promote the separation and transfer of photo-induced charge, but also improve the utilization rate of visible light, exposing rich active sites for the photocatalytic redox reaction. The photocatalytic experiment results showed that the Co 3 O 4 /90.0 wt% AZIS photocatalyst has a high hydrogen (H 2 ) production rate (695.0 μmol h −1 g −1 ) and high methyl orange (MO) degradation rate (0.4243 min −1 ). This work provides a feasible strategy for the development of HoMs heterojunction photocatalysts with enhanced H 2 production and degradation properties of organic dyes. Ag:ZnIn 2 S 4 nanosheets were coupled with Co 3 O 4 to form a dodecahedral HoMs Co 3 O 4 /Ag:ZnIn 2 S 4 photocatalyst, which effectively facilitates the separation of photogenerated carriers and enhances solar energy utilization efficiency.