Amorphous WP‐Modified Hierarchical ZnIn<sub>2</sub>S<sub>4</sub> Nanoflowers with Boosting Interfacial Charge Separation for Photocatalytic H<sub>2</sub> Evolution
Xuqiang Hao, Yifan Shao, Dingzhou Xiang, Zhiliang Jin
Abstract
Abstract The morphology design and loading of cocatalyst are effective strategies to enhance the light absorption capacity and separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers. This work successfully fabricates amorphous tungsten phosphide (WP)/hierarchical ZnIn 2 S 4 nanoflowers heterostructure (WP/ZnIn 2 S 4 ) with boosting interfacial charge separation for photocatalytic H 2 evolution. The maximum H 2 production rate of 6178 µmol g –1 is achieved over 10% WP/ZnIn 2 S 4 photocatalyst within 5 h, which is four times higher than that of pure ZnIn 2 S 4 . And a high photostability is also obtained. The enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity can be attributed to the synergistic effect of amorphous WP and hierarchical ZnIn 2 S 4 nanoflowers. Amorphous WP as a cocatalyst can rapidly capture photogenerated electrons on the surface of ZnIn 2 S 4 , improving the separation of photogenerated electron‐hole pairs. And the ZnIn 2 S 4 microflower with ultrathin nanosheets structure exposes more surface sites to anchor amorphous WP nanoparticles, which provides more active sites for hydrogen evolution. Additionally, amorphous WP greatly increases the light absorption range and prolongs the fluorescence lifetime of ZnIn 2 S 4 . This work provides a new idea for designing an effective cocatalyst‐modified semiconductor to improve photocatalytic activity.