In-situ construction of defect-engineered CeO2/ZnIn2S4 heterostructures toward high-efficiency photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Vacancy defects and a heterojunction were co-introduced on ZnIn 2 S 4 through a one-step in-situ synthesis strategy. • The CeO 2 /ZnIn 2 S 4 composite material exhibits excellent activity in the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction without the participation of Pt co-catalyst. • The revealed carrier transport dynamics in the CeO 2 /ZnIn 2 S 4 heterostructure provide a blueprint for engineering high-performance heterojunction materials. Zinc indium sulfide (ZnIn 2 S 4 ) is a promising photocatalyst whose performance is limited by inefficient charge separation. Herein, a one-pot strategy is proposed for the construction of CeO 2 /ZnIn 2 S 4 heterojunctions, with the alkaline environment concurrently inducing the generation of vacancy defects. The successful preparation of the CeO 2 /ZnIn 2 S 4 heterostructures was confirmed by a variety of characterization methods. Without employing a Pt cocatalyst, this heterojunction composite exhibits outstanding catalytic performance and long-term durability for photocatalytic H₂ production, which is mainly attributed to the plentiful active centers and improved charge carrier migration. DFT-based theoretical simulations further corroborated the charge transfer between CeO 2 and ZnIn 2 S 4 . These findings offer a new conceptual and material framework for constructing high-performance defect-enriched heterostructures. Download: Download high-res image (203KB) Download: Download full-size image