In situ constructing interfacial contact MoS2/ZnIn2S4 heterostructure for enhancing solar photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Abstract Construction of heterostructure by intimately interfacing two or more semiconductor materials with different geometrical and electronically energetic alignments at nanoscale is very important to achieve the composite photocatalysts with a high photocatalytic efficiency. Here, we in-situ prepared an intimate contact MoS2/ZnIn2S4 heterostructure photocatalyst by a one-pot solvothermal reaction. The MoS2/ZnIn2S4 heterostructure significantly enhanced the photocatalytic H2 evolution of ZnIn2S4 under visible light illumination. The hydrogen evolution rate reaches 3891.6 μmol g−1 h−1 over 5%-MoS2/ZnIn2S4, which exceeded the photocatalytic activity of Pt-loaded ZnIn2S4 samples. The subtle atomic-level intimate contact and strong interactions between ZnIn2S4 and MoS2 was ascribed to a highly efficient charge carrier separation and thus photocatalytic activity for MoS2/ZnIn2S4. These results provide inspiration for the design of composited photocatalysts with efficient photocatalytic H2 evolution.