Rationally designed Ta3N5/ZnIn2S4 1D/2D heterojunctions for boosting Visible-Light-driven hydrogen evolution

The rational design on structures is recognized as one of significant challenges and fundamental cases for exploring high-efficiency visible-light-driven photocatalyst. Herein, we report the construction of Ta3N5/ZnIn2S4 1D/2D heterojunctions, in which the layered ZnIn2S4 nanosheets are anchored upon single-crystalline Ta3N5 nanorods. Attributed to the rationally designed 1D/2D heterojunctions, the as-prepared Ta3N5/ZnIn2S4 hybrids have enhanced light absorptivity, improved charge separation and transfer, as well as abundant active sites for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). As a proof of concept, under visible-light irradiation, the resultant Ta3N5/ZnIn2S4 heterojunctions deliver a H-2-production rate of 637.18 mu mol g(-1)h(-1), which is 88 and 4 times higher than those of pure Ta3N5 nanorods and ZnIn2S4 nanosheets, respectively, and also superior to those of Ta3N5-based photocatalysts ever reported.

Automated summary

In this study, a rational design approach was adopted to construct Ta3N5/ZnIn2S4 1D/2D heterojunctions, which exhibited enhanced light absorptivity, improved charge separation and transfer, as well as abundant active sites for hydrogen evolution reaction. Under visible-light irradiation, the resulting Ta3N5/ZnIn2S4 heterojunctions showed a significantly higher H-2-production rate compared to pure Ta3N5 nanorods and ZnIn2S4 nanosheets, surpassing the reported Ta3N5-based photocatalysts.