In-MOF-derived In₂S₃/Bi₂S₃ heterojunction for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production

Abstract

Transition metal sulfides are commonly studied as photocatalysts for water splitting in solar-to-fuel conversion. However, the effectiveness of these photocatalysts is limited by the recombination and restricted light absorption capacity of carriers. In this paper, a broad spectrum responsive In₂S₃/Bi₂S₃ heterojunction is constructed by in-situ integrating Bi₂S₃ with the In₂S₃, derived from an In-MOF precursor, via the high-temperature sulfidation and solvothermal methods. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of wide-spectrum response, effective charge separation and transfer, and strong heterogeneous interfacial contacts, the In₂S₃/Bi₂S₃ heterojunction demonstrates a rate of 0.71 mmol/(g∙h), which is 2.2 and 1.7 times as much as those of In₂S₃ (0.32 mmol/(g∙h) and Bi₂S₃ (0.41 mmol/(g∙h)), respectively. This paper provides a novel idea for rationally designing innovative heterojunction photocatalysts of transition metal sulfides for photocatalytic hydrogen production.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

photocatalytic hydrogen production / wide-spectrum response / metal sulfides / MOFs derivative / heterogeneous interfacial contact

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Science, Technology, and Innovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality (Grant No. JCYJ20220818103417036), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 22261142666 and 52172237), the Shaanxi Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (Grant No. 2022JC-21), the Research Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing (NPU), China (Grant No. 2021-QZ-02), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant Nos. 3102019JC005 and D5000220033).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-023-0885-5 and is accessible for authorized users.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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