ZIF-9(iii) nanosheets synthesized in ionic liquid/ethanol mixture for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production

To improve the photocatalytic performance of metal-organic frameworks is of great importance. We synthesized the nanosheets of a zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-9(iii)) in ionic liquid/ethanol solution, with an average thickness of 4.6 nm. The as-synthesized ZIF-9(iii) nanosheets have optoelectronic properties superior to the three-dimensional ZIF-9(iii) synthesized by the conventional solvothermal method. The ZIF-9(iii) nanosheets exhibit high activity for photocatalytic hydrogen production under visible light irradiation. The maximum hydrogen production rate can reach 112.37 mmol g(-1) h(-1), while that by three-dimensional ZIF-9(iii) is 29.64 mmol g(-1) h(-1) under the same experimental conditions.