Plasma-Wind-Assisted In2S3 Preparation with an Amorphous Surface Structure for Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production
Date
2022-05-21
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Nanomaterials
Abstract
Photocatalytic production from water is considered an effective solution to fossil fuel-related environmental concerns, and photocatalyst surface science holds a significant interest in balancing photocatalysts’ stability and activity. We propose a plasma-wind method to tune the surface properties of a photocatalyst with an amorphous structure. Theoretical calculation shows that the amorphous surface structure can cause an unsaturated coordination environment to adjust the electron distribution, forming more adsorption sites. Thus, the photocatalyst with a crystal–amorphous (C–A) interface can strengthen light absorption, harvest photo-induced electrons, and enrich the active sites, which help improve hydrogen yield. As a proof of concept, with indium sulfide (In2S3) nanosheets used as the catalyst, an impressive hydrogen production rate up to 457.35 μmol cm−2 h−1 has been achieved. Moreover, after plasma-assisted treatment, In2S3 with a C–A interface can produce hydrogen from water under natural outdoor conditions. Following a six-hour test, the rate of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution is found to be 400.50 μmol cm−2 g−1, which demonstrates that a catalyst prepared through plasma treatment is both effective and highly practical.
Description
This article was originally published in Nanomaterials. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12101761
Keywords
photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, crystal–amorphous interface, plasma-wind treatment, indium sulfide, affordable and clean energy
Citation
Guo, Shaohui, Hui Luo, Xiaochuan Duan, Bingqing Wei, and Xianming Zhang. 2022. "Plasma-Wind-Assisted In2S3 Preparation with an Amorphous Surface Structure for Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production" Nanomaterials 12, no. 10: 1761. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12101761