Construction of 3D MoSx/Zn2In2S5 nanoflower heterojunction for boosted photothermal-assisted photocatalytic hydrogen evolution in biomass solution

Hydrogen production from solar energy conversion method is an attractive strategy to alleviate the energy crisis. The use of non-noble metal cocatalysts instead of noble metal monomers to improve the performance of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reactions has been pursued by researchers. In this work, we develop a single-photon excited electron transport pathway system for photocatalytic hydrogen production performance studies by coupling 0D MoSx nanodots and 3D Zn2In2S5 nanoflowers. Experimental results combined with DFT calculations show that MoSx not only imparts photothermal properties to the composite material, but also acts as a conduit for electron transport, which can accelerate the rapid separation and transfer of photocatalytic charges. Among them, 3-MoSx/Zn2In2S5 selectively promoted photocatalyzed conversion of benzyl alcohol (BA, 100% conversion) into benzaldehyde (BAD, 96.82% selectivity) by simultaneous co-production of hydrogen (8.74 mmol•g−1•h−1) within 1 h, which is about 7.80 and 2.69 times higher than pure Zn2In2S5, respectively. Further, 3-MoSx/Zn2In2S5 can realize the hydrogen production reaction with glycerol as the substrate with a remarkable effect (up to 5.47 mmol•g−1•h−1). Additionally, 3-MoSx/Zn2In2S5 also showed some hydrogen production performance when other biomasses (glucose, xylose, and cellulose) were used as substrates. This work provides a feasible strategy for the design of photothermal photocatalysts for synergistic hydrogen production from biomass.