ZnO:InN oxynitride: A novel and unconventional photocatalyst for efficient UV-visible light driven hydrogen evolution from water

A novel UV-visible light active oxynitride photocatalyst, ZnO:InN, has been demostrated to exhibit efficient hydrogen evolution from water as compared to some conventional photocatalysts. A reduction in bandgap (2.82 eV), as estimated from diffuse reflectance spectra, is explained using Valence band XPS studies and attributed to the upshift in valence band maximum. Photocatalytic activity of the samples has been demonstrated by organic dye degradation, where 92% decay was observed in 180 min under direct sunlight. Photoelectrochemical studies under visible light showed significant photoresponse with a photocurrent density of similar to 8 mu A/cm(2). This study, as per our knowledge, is first of its kind where ZnO:InN oxynitride has been explored as a UV-visible light active photocatalyst with significant H-2 generation of similar to 48 mu mol/g by UV-visible light water splitting using methanol scavenger. The results show the promising future applications of ZnO:InN oxynitride as a sunlight active photocatalyst for hydrogen production. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.