Cocatalyst decorated ZnIn2S4 composites for cooperative alcohol conversion and H2 evolution

Highly efficient photodriven conversion from biomass-derived platform chemicals to value-added chemical feedstocks and clean fuel hydrogen (H2) possesses immense potential to cope with the existing energy and environmental problems. We herein report a facile approach combining hydrothermal method and photodeposition method for fabricating diverse sulfide-based cocatalysts (MoS2, NiS and WS2) decorated ZnIn2S4 (ZIS) for simultaneous exploitation of photogenerated electrons and holes, effectively achieving the oxidation of furfuryl alcohol (FOL) cooperative with H2 evolution in one photoredox cycle. The results show the optimal binary MoS2-ZIS composites can obtain almost 7 times yield of products (furfural and H2) as high as that of blank ZIS. Notably, compared with previous reports in literatures, our present MoS2-ZIS shows the best performance in this photoredox dual reaction. As a relay station for electrons, cocatalysts facilitate the separation and transfer of photogenerated charge carriers in the composites, therefore prominently improving the photocatalytic performance. We anticipate that the present work can offer insights to guide the design of photoredox reaction systems for efficient valorization of biomass-derived platform chemicals.

Automated summary

A facile method was reported for the photodriven conversion of biomass-derived platform chemicals by decorating ZnIn2S4 with sulfide-based cocatalysts. The optimal MoS2-ZIS composites showed significantly improved performance in the photoredox reaction, suggesting promising applications in efficient valorization of biomass-derived platform chemicals.