Rational design of 2D/2D ZnIn2S4/C3N4 heterojunction photocatalysts for enhanced photocatalytic H-2 production

The development of close contact two-dimensional (2D) heterojunction photocatalysts for hydrogen evolution performance possesses great significance. In this work, we reported the design and photocatalytic activity of 2D ZnIn2S4 nanosheet (NS)/2D C3N4 NS heterojunction photocatalysts, which were prepared using a hydrothermal method. The ZnIn2S4 NSs were grown evenly on the surface of C3N4(180) nanosheets. The photocatalytic H-2 production performance of heterojunction photocatalysts was also tested under visible-light irradiation. In addition, the unique 2D/2D heterojunction architecture offered a larger contact area, stronger electronic interaction and longer lifetime of photogenerated carriers to enhance the separation and the transfer of charges. Therefore, the optimized 40ZnIn(2)S(4)/C3N4(180) possesses the best H-2 production performance (2016.94 mu mol h(-1) g(-1)), which is about 22.9- and 2.2-fold that of C3N4 and ZnIn2S4, respectively. This work may provide promising potential for the construction of 2D/2D heterojunction photocatalysts with outstanding performance and high stability.