Double Z-scheme ZnO/ZnS/g-C3N4 ternary structure for efficient photocatalytic H2 production

In the present work, a novel ZnO/ZnS/g-C3N4 ternary nanocomposite with double Z-scheme heterojunction has been designed via a two-step facile chemical conversion route. The spherical ZnS nanoparticles were uniformly loaded onto ZnO nanoflowers surface. And then the ZnO/ZnS nanocomposite was further hybridized with g-C3N4 nanosheets. Ternary ZnO/ZnS/g-C3N4 nanocomposite displays the largest specific surface area (about 76.2 m(2)/g), which provides plentiful activated sites for photocatalytic reaction. Furthermore, the ternary material exhibits the highest methylene blue photodegradation rate of about 0.0218 min(-1) and the optimum photocatalytic H-2 production (1205 mu mol/g) over water splitting at 4 h under solar light irradiation. Moreover, it showed the highest photocurrent effect and the minimum charge-transfer resistance. These results implied that the higher photoactivity of ZnO/ZnS/g-C3N4 nanocomposite could be attributed to the multi-steps charge transfer and effective electron-hole separation in the double Z-scheme system. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.