Constructing core–shell phosphorus doped MnCo2O4.5@ZIS for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production from water splitting

Rational construction of core@shell heterostructured photocatalysts is the key to realize efficient hydrogen production from water splitting attributing to the accelerated photoinduced charges separation/transfer and enhanced light absorption ability. In this work, two-dimensional (2D) ZnIn 2 S 4 (ZIS) nanosheets were in-situ grown on phosphorus doped MnCo 2 O 4.5 (P-MnCo 2 O 4.5 ) nanospheres to construct P-MnCo 2 O 4.5 @ZIS heterostructured photocatalysts for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production. The optimized 6 wt% P-MnCo 2 O 4.5 @ZIS composite presents remarkable photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of 4197 µmol g −1  h −1 (8 times of single ZIS) along with excellent cycling stability, which is comparable to most previous reported ZnIn 2 S 4 -based or even noble-metal involved catalysts. The improved photocatalytic performance is resulted from the distinguished heterostructure and components of P-MnCo 2 O 4.5 @ZIS, in which the close contact interface facilitates the separation/transfer and inhibits the recombination of charges, and the uniform distribution of ZIS nanosheets on P-MnCo 2 O 4.5 increases the active sites and fortifies the light absorption. The present work comes up with a prospective method for establishing core@shell ZIS-based heterostructured photocatalysts for efficient hydrogen generation.