Synergistic manipulation of sulfur vacancies and palladium doping of In2S3 for enhanced photocatalytic H2 production.

A novel Pd-doped In 2 S 3 photocatalyst with rich S vacancies has been fabricated through a one-pot synthesis process. Experimental characterizations and DFT calculations reveal that the synergistic effect of Pd doping and S vacancies endows In 2 S 3 with a favorable band structure and an effective charge transfer channel, thereby leading to a significant enhancement in photocatalytic H 2 evolution. [Display omitted] In this study, a simple one-pot synthesis process is employed to introduce Pd dopant and abundant S vacancies into In 2 S 3 nanosheets. The optimized Pd-doped In 2 S 3 photocatalyst, with abundant S vacancies, demonstrates a significant enhancement in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. The joint modification of Pd doping and rich S vacancies on the band structure of In 2 S 3 result in an improvement in both the light absorption capacity and proton reduction ability. It is worth noting that photogenerated electrons enriched by S vacancies can rapidly migrate to adjacent Pd atoms through an efficient transfer path constructed by Pd-S bond, effectively suppressing the charge recombination. Consequently, the dual-defective In 2 S 3 shows an efficient photocatalytic H 2 production rate of 58.4 ± 2.0 μmol·h−1. Additionally, further work has been conducted on other ternary metal sulfide, ZnIn 2 S 4. Our findings provide a new insight into the development of highly efficient photocatalysts through synergistic defect engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]