A mini-review on ZnIn_(2)S_(4)-Based photocatalysts for energy and environmental application

As one of the most attractive and eco-friendly technologies,semiconductor photocatalysis is demonstrated as a potential strategy to solve global energy shortage environmental pollution problems.Regarding semiconductor-based photocatalysts,Zinc indium sulfide(ZnIn_(2)S_(4)) with various morphological structures has become research hotspots owing to its superior visible light absorption,high chemical durability and low cost.Nevertheless,the photocatalytic activity of pristine ZnIn_(2)S_(4) is unsatisfactory due to limited range of visible light absorption and fast recombination rate of light-induced electrons and holes.Different modification strategies,such as metal deposition,element doping,vacancy engineering and semiconductor combination,have been systematically developed for enhancing the photocatalytic performance of ZnIn_(2)S_(4) materials.In order to promote further developments of ZnIn_(2)S_(4) in photocatalytic applications,this mini-review summarizes the progress of recent research works for the construction of highly activity ZnIn_(2)S_(4)-based photocatalysts for the first time.In addition,the typical applications of ZnIn_(2)S_(4)-based photocatalytic materials have been critically reviewed and described such as in hydrogen evolution from photocatalytic water splitting,carbon dioxide photoreduction,and treatment of water pollution.The current challenges and further prospects for the development of ZnIn_(2)S_(4) semiconductor photocatalysts are finally pointed out.

2D/2D hierarchical Co_(3)O_(4)/ZnIn_(2)S_(4)heterojunction with robust builtin electric field for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Because of its importance in enhancing charge separation and transfer,built-in electric field engineering has been acknowledged as an effective technique for improving photocatalytic performance.Herein,a stable p–n heterojunction of 2D/2D(2D:twodimensional)Co_(3)O_(4)/ZnIn_(2)S_(4)with a strong built-in electric field is precisely constructed.The Co_(3)O_(4)/ZnIn_(2)S_(4)heterojunction exhibits a higher visible-light photocatalytic hydrogen(H2)evolution rate than the individual components,which is primarily attributed to the synergy effect of improved light absorption,abundant active sites,short charge transport distance,high separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers.Furthermore,the photoelectrochemical studies and density functional theory(DFT)calculation results demonstrate that the enhanced interfacial charge separation and migration induced by the generated built-in electric field are the critical reasons for the boosted photocatalytic performance.This research might pave the way for the rational design and manufacturing of 2D/2D heterojunction photocatalysts with extremely efficient photocatalytic performance for solar energy conversion.

Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework 8-Derived Au@ZnO for Efficient and Robust Photocatalytic Degradation of Tetracycline

Summary of main observation and conclusion Tetracycline (TC) and other antibiotics accumulated in groundwater and soil pollute ecological environment and threaten human health. Gold nan oparticles doped on photocatalysts are able to enhance the photodegradation efficiency during removing these antibiotics, but preparation of Au nanoparticles of well-dispersion on photocatalysts remains challenging. In this work, zeolite imidazolate (ZIF-8) was employed as the precursor to prepare Au@ZnO photocatalyst via impregnation and in-situ reduction method to efficiently degrade the tetracycline in the aqueous solution. Au nanoparticles are of 10 nm in size and uniformly dispersed on the surfaces of ZnO microstructures. The as-prepared Au@ZnO is able to remove 85.5% of TC of 0.010 mg/mL within 2h, presenting higher photocatalytic activity than pure ZnO catalyst. Most importantly, the catalyst shows its superior stability after five cycles without structure and activity changing. The mechanism of the photocatalytic degradation was discussed in detail.