Construction of Hollow Co(3)O(4)@ZnIn(2)S(4) p-n Heterojunctions for Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production

Photocatalysts derived from semiconductor heterojunctions for water splitting have bright prospects in solar energy conversion. Here, a Co(3)O(4)@ZIS p-n heterojunction was successfully created by developing two-dimensional ZnIn(2)S(4) on ZIF-67-derived hollow Co(3)O(4) nanocages, realizing efficient spatial separation of the electron-hole pair. Moreover, the black hollow structure of Co(3)O(4) considerably increases the range of light absorption and the light utilization efficiency of the heterojunction avoids the agglomeration of ZnIn(2)S(4) nanosheets and further improves the hydrogen generation rate of the material. The obtained Co(3)O(4)(20) @ZIS showed excellent photocatalytic H(2) activity of 5.38 mmol g(−1)·h(−1) under simulated solar light, which was seven times more than that of pure ZnIn(2)S(4). Therefore, these kinds of constructions of hollow p-n heterojunctions have a positive prospect in solar energy conversion fields.