Large electronegativity differences between adjacent atomic sites activate and stabilize ZnIn2S4 for efficient photocatalytic overall water splitting

Abstract Photocatalytic overall water splitting into hydrogen and oxygen is desirable for long-term renewable, sustainable and clean fuel production on earth. Metal sulfides are considered as ideal hydrogen-evolved photocatalysts, but their component homogeneity and typical sulfur instability cause an inert oxygen production, which remains a huge obstacle to overall water-splitting. Here, a distortion-evoked cation-site oxygen doping of ZnIn 2 S 4 (D-O-ZIS) creates significant electronegativity differences between adjacent atomic sites, with S 1 sites being electron-rich and S 2 sites being electron-deficient in the local structure of S 1 –S 2 –O sites. The strong charge redistribution character activates…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 22261142666, 3102019JC005, 52172237
• SK
  State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing

  Awards: 2021-QZ-02, 3102019JC005
• FR
  Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities

  Awards: 3102019JC005, D5000220033