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In-MOF-derived In2S3/Bi2S3 heterojunction for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production

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Abstract

Transition metal sulfides are commonly studied as photocatalysts for water splitting in solar-to-fuel conversion. However, the effectiveness of these photocatalysts is limited by the recombination and restricted light absorption capacity of carriers. In this paper, a broad spectrum responsive In2S3/Bi2S3 heterojunction is constructed by in-situ integrating Bi2S3 with the In2S3, derived from an In-MOF precursor, via the high-temperature sulfidation and solvothermal methods. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of wide-spectrum response, effective charge separation and transfer, and strong heterogeneous interfacial contacts, the In2S3/Bi2S3 heterojunction demonstrates a rate of 0.71 mmol/(g·h), which is 2.2 and 1.7 times as much as those of In2S3 (0.32 mmol/(g·h) and Bi2S3 (0.41 mmol/(g·h)), respectively. This paper provides a novel idea for rationally designing innovative heterojunction photocatalysts of transition metal sulfides for photocatalytic hydrogen production.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Science, Technology, and Innovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality (Grant No. JCYJ20220818103417036), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 22261142666 and 52172237), the Shaanxi Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (Grant No. 2022JC-21), the Research Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing (NPU), China (Grant No. 2021-QZ-02), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant Nos. 3102019JC005 and D5000220033).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research and Development Institute of Northwestern Polytechnical University in Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518063, China

    Sibi Liu, Yijin Wang, Youzi Zhang, Xu Xin, Peng Guo, Dongshan Deng, Miao Wang, Ruiling Wang & Xuanhua Li

  2. State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Center for Nano Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, 710072, China

    Sibi Liu, Yijin Wang, Youzi Zhang, Xu Xin, Peng Guo, Dongshan Deng, Miao Wang, Ruiling Wang & Xuanhua Li

  3. School of Chemistry, University College of Science, Unversity of Tehran, Tehran, 14155-6455, Iran

    Jahan B. Ghasemi

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  1. Sibi Liu
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  2. Yijin Wang
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  3. Youzi Zhang
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  4. Xu Xin
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  5. Peng Guo
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Correspondence to Ruiling Wang or Xuanhua Li.

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Liu, S., Wang, Y., Zhang, Y. et al. In-MOF-derived In2S3/Bi2S3 heterojunction for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production. Front. Energy 17, 654–663 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-023-0885-5

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