Interface engineering of 0D–1D Cu2NiSnS4/TiO2(B) p–n heterojunction nanowires for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

The photocatalytic hydrogen production is one of the clean and renewable methods of converting solar energy to chemical fuels. Herein, an 0D/1D Cu 2 NiSnS 4 /TiO 2 (B) p-n heterojunction photocatalyst was prepared by a hydrothermal route. The FE-SEM, and HR-TEM analysis revealed that the 1D nanowire morphology of TiO 2 (B) was coated uniformly with Cu 2 NiSnS 4 (CNTS) nanoparticles. With an average particle size of 5 nm, CNTS nanoparticles improved the interfacial contact and formed an efficient p-n heterojunction with TiO 2 (B), which greatly improved the charge carrier separation, as evident from the transient photocurrent, photoluminescence, and impedance spectroscopies. The optimized Cu 2 NiSnS 4 /TiO 2 (B) sample produced an average of 7144 µmol/g of hydrogen in 4 h of reaction time under direct sunlight irradiation, which is nearly five times higher than bare TiO 2 (B). Based on the Mott-Schottky and UV–visDRS spectra, a Z-scheme p-n junction charge transfer mechanism has been proposed. [Display omitted] • A 0D/1D Cu 2 NiSnS 4 /TiO 2 (B) photocatalyst was prepared by a hydrothermal route. • The 1D TiO 2 (B) nanowires are coated uniformly with Cu 2 NiSnS 4 nanoparticles. • The 5 nm size Cu 2 NiSnS 4 nanoparticles formed an interfacial contact and efficient p-n heterojunction with TiO 2 (B). • The Cu 2 NiSnS 4 /TiO 2 (B) produced an average of 7144 µmol/g of hydrogen in 4 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]