Sandwich-like P-doped h-BN/ZnIn2S4 nanocomposite with direct Z-scheme heterojunction for efficient photocatalytic H2 and H2O2 evolution

The sustainable conversion from solar energy to chemical energy is realized by using photocatalytic technology to produce hydrogen and hydrogen peroxide. In this work, the construction of a direct Z-scheme heterojunction is of great significance for improving the efficiency and stability of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution (PHE) and photocatalytic hydrogen peroxide production (PHP). In this study, P-doped h-BN (PBN) nanosheets are used to support the in-situ growth of ZnIn2S4 nanoflowers via wet chemical method, and sandwich-like PBN/ZnIn2S4 hierarchical heterostructures are successfully synthesized. The PHE performance of PBN/ZnIn2S4 (similar to 59.46 mu mol/h) is similar to 2.35 times than that of the original ZnIn2S4 (similar to 25.27 mu mol/h), and the PHP performance (similar to 122.82 mu mol/L/h) is 39.37 times than that of PBN (similar to 3.12 mu mol/L/h). The excellent photocatalytic performance of PBN/ZnIn2S4 can be attributed to the following points: (1) the acceleration of the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs induced by the formation of Z-scheme hetemstmcture; (2) reasonable design and construction of sandwich-like PBN/ZnIn2S4 hierarchical hetemstructure; (3) the promotion the migration and separation of photogenerated carriers by the built-in electric field. This work provides new ideas for the development of highefficiency PHE and PHP Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst design.

Automated summary

The sustainable conversion from solar energy to chemical energy is achieved by using photocatalytic technology and constructing a direct Z-scheme heterojunction, which greatly improves the efficiency and stability of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution (PHE) and photocatalytic hydrogen peroxide production (PHP). The study demonstrates that using PBN/ZnIn2S4 hierarchical heterostructures can significantly enhance the photocatalytic performance of PHE and PHP.