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Solar Light-Responsive ZnS/Reduced Graphene Oxide Photocatalysts for Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution

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Abstract

The photocatalytic hydrogen (H2) evolution process under solar-light irradiation is a crucial fundamental step for solar energy exploitation. In our study, the ZnS/reduced graphene oxide (ZnS/rGO) composites were prepared using a simple solvothermal approach. The combination of detailed theoretical simulation calculations and comprehensive characterizations indicates that the rGO can greatly increase the capture of light, reduce the band gap, accelerate the transfer of photogenerated electrons, and provide more photo-induced carriers to participate in photocatalytic reactions. The as-formed optimized ZnS/rGO composites exhibit a remarkably superior photocatalytic H2 production capacity of 0.30 mmol/g/h, up to 4.29 times over bare ZnS nanoparticles. The enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution performance of the ZnS/rGO composites was ascribed to the intimated hetero-interface between components and the efficient transfer of photo-generated electrons from ZnS to rGO. This work provides new insights into the semiconductor-graphene heterojunction photocatalyst for enhancing photocatalytic activity.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Educational Committee (KJ2020A0474), the Anhui Jianzhu University Natural Science Research Project (JZ202222), and the project of PhD Research Fund (Grant No. 2019QDZ23).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei, 230601, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao-jie Song, Xiu-fang Wang, Meng Wang, Wei-wei Dong & Ming-ming Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Functional Molecule Design and Interface Process, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei, 230601, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao-jie Song & Xiu-fang Wang

  3. Department of Chemistry, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, People’s Republic of China

    Fan Yang

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  1. Xiao-jie Song
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  2. Xiu-fang Wang
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  4. Wei-wei Dong
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Song, Xj., Wang, Xf., Wang, M. et al. Solar Light-Responsive ZnS/Reduced Graphene Oxide Photocatalysts for Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution. Catal Lett (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-023-04542-5

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