High-yield solar hydrogen generation on acousto-hydrothermally tailored ZnIn₂S₄ nanosheet superstructures

Hydrogen production via photocatalytic water splitting holds great promise for efficient solar energy conversion. While ZnIn₂S₄ (ZIS) exhibits a suitable band structure for visible-light-driven hydrogen production, its practical application is significantly limited by low charge separation efficiency and poor stability. This work pioneers an acousto-hydrothermal strategy utilizing high-frequency ultrasonic atomization to synthesis structurally optimized ZIS. Systematic characterization reveals that ultrasonic cavitation compresses crystal lattices to enhance Zn 3d-S 3p orbital hybridization, assembles nanosheets with a 20 % increased surface area, leading to enhanced charge separation efficiency. The optimized ZIS demonstrates significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity and stability. It achieves a remarkable hydrogen evolution rate of 51.8 mmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ under 455 nm visible light irradiation, representing an 86 % improvement over pristine ZIS. After a 15 h reaction, the catalytic system produces 8.3 mmol of H₂ (185.9 mL at standard conditions). This work presents an innovative strategy for designing nanosheet-based materials to achieve high-efficiency photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.