Up-conversion effect boosted NIR-driven photocatalytic solar fuel generation of NaYF₄: Yb, Er decorated ZnIn₂S₄ flowers with rich Zn vacancies

Abstract

Photocatalytic CO₂ reduction for solar fuel generation is a promising approach to alleviating the environmental and energy crisis. Herein, a flower-like composite was obtained by assembling Zn vacancy-rich ZnIn₂S₄ (V_Zn-ZIS) with up-conversion nanoparticles (UCNPs, NaYF₄: Yb, Er). Specifically, the optimized UCNPs@V_Zn-ZIS demonstrates superior CO generation of 32.57 μmol/g in the near-infrared (NIR)-driven photocatalytic CO₂ reduction process within 8 h. Fortunately, the performance of photocatalytic CO₂ reduction based on optimized UCNPs@V_Zn-ZIS is superior to most reported photocatalysts under NIR irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic CO₂ reduction activity is attributed to the extended light absorption, enhanced charge separation, and improved CO₂ activation of the surface vacancy. The work presented here provides a facile approach to developing novel broad spectral responsive photocatalytic CO₂ reduction photocatalysts, which hold great potential for solar fuel generation in future applications.

Keywords

Photocatalysis / ZnIn₂S₄ (ZIS) / up-conversion / vacancies / CO₂ reduction

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