SiO@TiO Core@Shell Nanoparticles Deposited on 2D-Layered ZnInS to Form a Ternary Heterostructure for Simultaneous Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production and Organic Pollutant Degradation.

It is challenging to design and prepare difunctional photocatalysts for simultaneous photocatalytic wastewater purification and hydrogen (H) energy production. In this study, a novel ternary heterostructure pholocatalyst, ZnInS@SiO@TiO (ZIS@SiO@TiO) was successfully prepared by simple sol-gel and solvothermal methods. The SiO nanospheres were used as a support to prevent the aggregation of TiO nanoparticles efficiently. The SiO@TiO nanoparticles were uniformly inserted into the 2D-layered flowerlike ZnInS to form a ternary heterostructure that can efficiently improve the separation and transportation of photoinduced electron-hole pairs. As expected, the 150%-ZIS@SiO@TiO nanocomposite exhibited an excellent rate of H production under simulated sunlight (618.3 μmol g h), which was 229 and 3.3 times higher than the binary SiO@TiO nanoparticles and pure ZnInS. Furthermore, the degradation efficiency of methylene blue reached 99.7% during the H production process. These findings provided possibilities to couple energy conversion with environmental restoration.