Photothermal-assisted magnetic recoverable Cd0.9Zn0.1S/NiCoB heterojunction with extraordinary photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Zeshuang Kong; Jixian Dong; Jiahui Yu; Jinghao Cao; Xin Liu; Dafeng Zhang; Junchang Liu; Peiqing Cai; Xipeng Pu

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2024.09.080

Photothermal-assisted magnetic recoverable Cd_0.9Zn_0.1S/NiCoB heterojunction with extraordinary photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2025 Jan 15;678(Pt B):1026-1035. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.09.080. Epub 2024 Sep 13.

Authors

Zeshuang Kong¹, Jixian Dong¹, Jiahui Yu¹, Jinghao Cao¹, Xin Liu¹, Dafeng Zhang², Junchang Liu¹, Peiqing Cai³, Xipeng Pu⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Energy Storage and Novel Cell Technology, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, PR China.
² School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Energy Storage and Novel Cell Technology, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, PR China. Electronic address: dafengzh@hotmail.com.
³ College of Optical and Electronic Technology, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, PR China.
⁴ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Energy Storage and Novel Cell Technology, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, PR China. Electronic address: xipengpu@hotmail.com.

PMID: 39276512
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.09.080

Abstract

Easily recyclable photocatalysts hold great potential in the field of photocatalysis. Guided by rational theoretical predictions, this study designs a novel tetrapod-like Cd_0.9Zn_0.1S/NiCoB (CZS/NCB) Schottky heterojunction with magnetic and photothermal properties, and demonstrates its excellent photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance. Under the combined effects of the photothermal properties and the Schottky heterojunction, the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate extraordinarily reaches 108.39 mmol g^-1 h^-1 after 3 h of visible light irradiation, which is 4.69 times that of pure CZS. Additionally, photocatalytic hydrogen evolution tests conducted using infrared thermography and alternating visible and visible plus infrared light irradiation have confirmed the material's outstanding photothermal properties. In-depth density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal potential charge transfer pathways and confirm the formation of the Schottky heterojunction. This work provides guidance for the rational construction of magnetic recoverable photocatalysts with practical application.

Keywords: Cd(0.9)Zn(0.1)S; NiCoB; Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution; Photothermal; Schottky heterojunction Magnetic.