In situ fabrication of a robust P–N heterojunction based on Mn–Zn–S–ethylenediamine hybrid nanorods for boosting photocatalytic performance

Abstract

Multifarious novel photocatalysts based on hybrid nanocomposites have been developed to boost photocatalytic efficiency. However, the photocatalytic property of hybrid nanocomposites is still bound by inferior thermal stability, tardive charge motion kinetics and few active sites. In this work, a convenient and facile cation exchange approach was conceptually provided for fabricating a well-designed and robust P–N heterojunction based on Mn–Zn–S–ethylenediamine hybrid nanocomposite. Such hybrids take ZnS–ethylenediamine as the skeleton, and the Mn²⁺ cations are superseded and inserted into the interlayer of ZnS through the cation exchange approach, thus forming the Mn–Zn–S–ethylenediamine hybrid nanocomposite. Hence, as-synthesized ZnS–Mn^1.0 had a significantly promoted photoactivity for reducing p-nitroaniline (94.5%) and p-nitrotoluene (88.6%) to the corresponding amino derivatives, besides oxidizing phenol (94.6%) under simulated solar irradiation. Meanwhile, PEC measurements illustrated that the interface created by this cation exchange approach was beneficial to promoting the motion behavior and prolonging the lifetime of photo-generated charges. Through this work we hope to offer an emerging strategy to finely design and fabricate all hybrid nanocomposite-based heterostructured photocatalysts for enhancing solar-to-chemical energy conversion.