Efficient flower-like ZnSe/Cu_0.08Zn_0.92S photocatalyst for hydrogen production application

Abstract

Photocatalytic hydrogen production utilizing abundant solar energy to produce high-calorie, clean, and pollution-free hydrogen is an important approach to solving environmental and resource problems. In this work, a high-efficiency flower-like ZnSe/Cu_0.08Zn_0.92S photocatalyst was constructed through element doping and the formation of a Z-scheme heterojunction. The synergistic effect of Cu doping and the built-in electric field in the heterojunction enhanced light absorption and utilization by the ZnSe/Cu_0.08Zn_0.92S microflowers, accelerated the separation and transfer of photogenerated electrons and effectively inhibited electron–hole recombination. Thus the photocatalytic hydrogen production ability of the ZnSe/Cu_0.08Zn_0.92S microflowers was increased significantly. The highly stable ZnSe/Cu_0.08Zn_0.92S microflowers could provide excellent catalysis of photocatalytic hydrogen production.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

photocatalysis / Cu_0.08Zn_0.92S / ZnSe / hydrogen production

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52003136 and 52072197), Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant No. ZR2022ME117), Outstanding Youth Foundation of Shandong Province, China (Grant No. ZR2019JQ14), Youth Innovation and Technology Foundation of Shandong Higher Education Institutions, China (Grant No. 2019KJC004), Major Scientific and Technological Innovation Project (Grant No. 2019JZZY020405), Major Basic Research Program of Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province under Grant No. ZR2020ZD09, Taishan Scholar Young Talent Program (Grant No. tsqn201909114), Talent Fund of Shandong Collaborative Innovation Center of Eco-Chemical Engineering (Grant No. XTCXYX33), Open Project of State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials (Grant No. sklssm2023037) and Foundation of State Key Laboratory of High-efficiency Utilization of Coal and Green Chemical Engineering (Grant No. 2021-K60).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11705-022-2295-3 and is accessible for authorized users.

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