ZnS@carbonaceous aerogel composites fabricated in production of hydrogen and for removal of organic pollutants

Novel hollow sphere morphologied zinc sulphide@carbonaceous aerogel (ZnS@CA) composites with different ZnS content were fabricated using a simple hydrothermal carbonization treatment following by a facile in situ growth method. The fabricated composites were used as catalysts for chemical degradation of the methylene blue (MB) and for hydrogen evolution. Our photocatalytic studies are found, from the photocatalytic results obtained by different ZnS@CA materials, that 55 wt%ZnS@CA exhibits the excellent photocatalytic performances for MB degradation and the highest rate of hydrogen production that are correspondingly 1.7- and 8.1-fold higher than that of pure ZnS. This improved photocatalytic performance could be mainly attributed by unique 3D catenulate carbon networks, which can be highly favorable to disperse of ZnS on the surface of CA. An synergetic properties between CA and ZnS could be highly beneficial to the photo-generated electron-hole separation. The hollow microsphere structured ZnS nanoparticles allow multi-reflections of light within the interior cavity and increases the capture efficiency of visible light. A possible photocatalytic mechanism of the main active radicals has also been proposed. This work opens up the new prospects for a low-cost biomass-based sulfide photocatalysts used for the environmental purification and hydrogen generation.