N-doped and sulfur vacancy-rich TiO2@SnS2 nanoporous arrays for the plasmonic photocatalytic H2 evolution

An elegant templating method has been developed for the rational design and synthesis of hierarchical SnS 2 nanoclusters composed of ultrathin nanosheets and embedded inside TiO 2 nanoporous arrays. Herein, benefiting from their unique structural merits and metal-like plasmonic activity, the TiO 2 @SnS 2 heterostructures exhibit enhanced photocatalytic H 2 evolution properties in terms of good cycling performance. S vacancies and N-doping are proved to be vitally important to the electronic structures and bandgap of SnS 2 , thus influence the plasmonic property and separation of photo-carriers. The optimized TiO 2 @6nmSnS 2 /N nanoporous arrays give an ultra-high H 2 yield rate of 285 μmol h −1 cm −2 under a low catalyst loading mass, that comparable to most noble metal catalysts . Remarkable cycling performance with a capability retention of 90% is achieved after 30 h under solar light illumination. As an innovative exploration, this study demonstrates that the photocatalytic activities of nonmetal, earth-abundant SnS 2 can be enhanced with plasmonic effect, which may serve as an excellent catalytic agent for solar energy conversion to chemical fuel.