Photocatalytic activity towards degradation pollutants and H2 evolution by means of Cu3P/CdIn2S4 type-II heterojunction

Fabricating type-II heterostructures to accelerate the charge separation of the photocatalysts has been considered as a prospective strategy to improve the photocatalytic performance. Herein, a novel type-II photocatalytic heterojunction was fabricated by integrating Cu 3 P on nanosheet CdIn 2 S 4 to accelerate carrier separation, enhancing the RhB degradation and H 2 evolution performance. The Cu 3 P/CIS composite achieved complete RhB degradation within 40 min and an impressive 95 % photodegradation efficiency for RhB. Quenching experiments and electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements confirmed that the ·O 2 – plays an important role in the degradation of RhB. Meanwhile, the optimal Cu 3 P/CdIn 2 S 4 photocatalyst shows a high hydrogen evolution rate of 1058 umol ·g −1 ·h −1 , which was 7 and 1.8 times higher than that of pure CIS. The outstanding photocatalytic performance was ascribed to the robust built-in electric field at the interface between two components driving force for electron migration.