Photothermal ReO2/ReS2/Zn2In2S5 heterojunction for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Converting solar energy into hydrogen production is a promising strategy to alleviate the energy crisis. In this study, we developed a system for the study of photocatalytic hydrogen production performance by coupling ReO2/ReS2 community and 3D Zn2In2S5 nanoflowers. The combination of experimental results and Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that ReO2/ReS2 not only endows the composites with photothermal properties, but also acts as a step for electron transport, enabling accelerated photocatalytic charge separation and transfer. Among them, 0.75-ReO2/ReS2/Zn2In2S5 (up to 6.75 mmol•g−1•h−1) can achieve the highest hydrogen production with Triethanolamine (TEOA) as substrate, which is 23.28 times higher than that of pure Zn2In2S5 (0.29 mmol•g−1•h−1). In addition, 0.75-ReO2/ReS2/Zn2In2S5 also exhibited certain hydrogen production performance when some representative biomasses (lactic acid, glycerol, glucose, and xylose) were used as substrates. This work provides a feasible strategy for the design of new photothermal hydrogen production photocatalysts.