A thin clothe coated architecture of ZnIn2S4/H2Ta2O6 for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production.

Focused on energy and environment issues, in present investigation, an economical and eco-friendly photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution in water splitting reaction has been designed and fabricated. The characteristics by XRD, TEM, XPS and AFM confirmed that an octahedral H 2 Ta 2 O 6 is uniformly capsuled by ZnIn 2 S 4 thin clothes to form a package ZnIn 2 S 4 /H 2 Ta 2 O 6 heterojunction. The assembled ZnIn 2 S 4 /H 2 Ta 2 O 6 exhibits superior hydrogen generated performance with a value of 3217.31 μmol g−1•h−1 under simulated sunlight irradiation, without obvious deactivation in five consecutive cycles. The enhanced activity and reusability are mainly attributed to ultrathin clothe-like shell, the well-matched band structure and a large tight contact interface in the package type construction, which can promote redox ability, extend light harvesting range and boost charge separation efficiency. The present study proposes a new design idea to assemble a highly efficient and durable photocatalyst for solar hydrogen generation by splitting water. [Display omitted] • A package ZnIn 2 S 4 /H 2 Ta 2 O 6 heterojunction was prepared by one-step synthetic method. • The enhanced activity is due to the formation of tightly connected interface. • Large surface area and modified electronic structure contribute to the activity. • The ZnIn 2 S 4 /H 2 Ta 2 O 6 showed well reusability during 30 h of stability test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]