Title

Efficient photocatalytic H2 production using visible‐light irradiation and (CuAg)xIn2xZn2(1 − 2x)S2 photocatalysts with tunable band gaps

Authors

Guangshan Zhang
Wen Zhang
Daisuke Minakata, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Peng Wang
Yongsheng Chen
John C. Crittenden

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2014

Abstract

The band structures of semiconductor photocatalysts fundamentally determine the photocatalytic activity and the H₂ production from the visible‐light‐driven water‐splitting reaction. We synthesize a suite of multicomponent sulfide photocatalysts, (CuAg)_xIn_2xZn_{2(1 − 2x)}S₂ (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5), with tunable band gaps and small crystallite sizes to produce H₂ using visible‐light irradiation. The band gap of the photocatalysts decreases from 3.47 eV to 1.51 eV with the increasing x value. The (CuAg)_0.15In_0.3Zn_1.4S₂ (x = 0.15) photocatalyst yielded the highest photocatalytic activity for H₂ production owing to the broad visible‐light absorption range and suitable conduction band potential. Under the optimized reaction conditions, the highest H₂ production rate is 230 µmol m⁻² h⁻¹ with a visible‐light irradiation of 2.7 × 10⁻⁵ einstein cm⁻² s⁻¹, and the quantum yield reaches 12.8% at 420 ± 5 nm within 24 h. Furthermore, the photocatalytic H₂ production is shown to strongly depend on their band structures, which vary with the elemental ratios and could be analyzed by the Nernst relation.

Publisher's Statement

Copyright © 2014, John Wiley and Sons. Publisher's version of record: https://doi.org/10.1002/er.3157

Publication Title

International Journal of Energy Research

Recommended Citation

Zhang, G., Zhang, W., Minakata, D., Wang, P., Chen, Y., & Crittenden, J. C. (2014). Efficient photocatalytic H2 production using visible‐light irradiation and (CuAg)xIn2xZn2(1 − 2x)S2 photocatalysts with tunable band gaps. International Journal of Energy Research, 38(12), 1513-1521. http://doi.org/10.1002/er.3157
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