Fabrication of a highly dispersed Co3O4-modified MOF-derived ZnO@ZnS porous heterostructure for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production†
Abstract
A porous and highly dispersed Co3O4-modified ZnO@ZnS heterostructure (Co3O4–ZnO@ZnS) was developed by the simple calcination and sulfurization of the designed bimetallic ZnCo-ZIF@ZIF-8. The charge separation and transfer in this novel heterostructure were significantly improved owing to the highly dispersed Co3O4 and the porous structure. The hydrogen production rate of Co3O4–ZnO@ZnS was 1816.3 μmol g−1 h−1 with Na2S–Na2SO3 as the sacrificial agent under a Xe lamp, which was 1.5 times greater than that of ZnO@ZnS (1215.6 μmol g−1 h−1). Moreover, the photocatalytic performance of Co3O4–ZnO@ZnS was further improved by loading a Pt cocatalyst, with the hydrogen production rate reaching 3269.3 μmol g−1 h−1. This method can be used to design other effective photocatalytic heterostructures for water splitting.