J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2025, Vol. 229: 287-295.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2024.12.060

• Research article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared light responsive inorganic/organic S-scheme heterojunctions for efficient H2 O2 production

Fanglong Suna,1, Yadan Luob,c,1, Shaoping Kuanga,*, Min Zhoud,*, Wing-Kei Hoe, Hua Tangb,*   

  1. aCollege of Environment and Safety Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266000, China;
    bSchool of Environmental Science and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China;
    cChina College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China;
    dInstitute for Energy Research, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China;
    eDepartment of Science and Environmental Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
  • Received:2024-11-09 Revised:2024-12-09 Accepted:2024-12-10 Published:2025-09-10 Online:2025-02-22
  • Contact: *E-mail addresses: kuangshaoping@126.com (S. Kuang), zhoumin@ujs.edu.cn (M. Zhou), huatang79@163.com (H. Tang).
  • About author:1These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract: Solar-powered H2 O2 synthesis from water and oxygen presents a potential strategy in the industrial and environmental domains. However, insufficient light absorption, poor charge separation efficiency, and the same or nearby catalytic sites for the photocatalysts limit the activity of H2 O2 production. Herein, an ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared light responsive S-scheme heterojunction is created by growing ZnIn2 S4 (ZIS) subunits firmly on a core of resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) sphere. The enhanced full-spectrum light response ZIS/RF core-shell structure is evidenced by UV/Vis-NIR diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS). In situ irradiation X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) investigation confirms an S-scheme charge transfer mechanism between RF and ZIS. A directional interfacial electric field (IEF) drives the unique spatial separation feature of constructed heterojunction photoexcited carriers and redox centers through the S-scheme transfer pathway with H2 O2 production. Under solar light irradiation, the optimized ZIS/RF with core-shell structure shows a robust apparent quantum efficiency (AQY) up to 22.5 % at 420 nm, 1 % at 720 nm, and 0.2 % at 800 nm. With the key reaction intermediates determined by calculating the average number of transferred electrons and oxygen-reactive species, a possible full-spectrum-light-driven redox mechanism of H2 O2 synthesis is provided.

Key words: S-scheme heterojunction, Full-spectrum light, H2 O2, Resorcinol-formaldehyde, ZnIn2 S4