ZnIn2S4 supported carbon dots/Ni3P hybrid for efficient photothermal catalytic hydrogen production from water

Construction of efficient and economically controllable catalysts for photocatalytic hydrogen production to relieve environmental and energy pressures remains an ongoing challenge. Herein, indium zinc sulfide supported carbon dots (CDs) and Ni 3 P hybrid (CDs/Ni 3 P/ZnIn 2 S 4 ) is designed as a robust catalyst for photothermal catalytic hydrogen production by water splitting. The co-introduction of CDs/Ni 3 P on ZnIn 2 S 4 as electron acceptors effectively enhances the photon harvest capacity and separation efficiency of photogenerated charges, and ultimately leads to excellent photothermal catalytic hydrogen production performance. The average hydrogen production rate of CDs/Ni 3 P/ZnIn 2 S 4 reaches 1880.78 μmol g −1  h −1 under 50 °C and full spectrum irradiation of 200 mW cm −2 , which is ∼8.8 times higher than the pristine ZnIn 2 S 4 and ranges among those over noble metal catalysts. Such a work provides a reliable route for the design of non-precious photothermal catalysts for photocatalytic hydrogen production.