Construction of ZnIn2S4-CdIn2S4 Microspheres for Efficient Photo-catalytic Reduction of CO2 with Visible Light

ZnIn2S4 has emerged in water splitting and degradation of dyes due to its good stability and light absorption properties. However, there are still few reports of CO2 photoreduction. Herein, we successfully synthesized ZnIn2S4 and obtained a series of ZnIn2S4-CdIn2S4 hetero-structured microspheres through the ion exchange method, and first used them in photocatalytic CO2 reduction in noble-metal-free systems. The activity results showed that these ZnIn2S4-CdIn2S4 photocatalysts exhibit excellent catalytic activity under visible light, and the best CO yield is as high as 33.57 mu mol.h(-1) with a selectivity of 91%. Furthermore, the stability and reusability of ZnIn2S4-CdIn2S4 was firmly confirmed by diverse characterizations, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and N-2 adsorption measurements.

Automated summary

In this study, ZnIn2S4-CdIn2S4 hetero-structured microspheres were successfully synthesized and used for photocatalytic CO2 reduction in noble-metal-free systems. The photocatalysts exhibited excellent catalytic activity and stability.