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• Flower-like ZnIn 2 S 4 coupled with black phosphorus (BP) as efficient photocatalyst. • BP and photo-deposited Pt played a synergistic role in enhancing photocatalytic H 2 evolution. • 0.5%Pt/0.5%BP/ZnIn 2 S 4 showed the best H 2 production efficiency at 1278 μmol/g/h. • Superior recycling stability of more than 4 cycles for solar hydrogen evolution. To make persistent efforts at enhancing hydrogen evolution driven by solar energy, this work, for the first time, had introduced flower-like ZnIn 2 S 4 coupled with black phosphorus (BP) as efficient photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution with photo-deposited Pt assisted under visible light irradiation. The hydrogen evolution efficiency of BP, ZnIn 2 S 4 , 0.5%BP/ZnIn 2 S 4 , 0.5%Pt/BP, 0.5%Pt/ZnIn 2 S 4 and 0.5%Pt/0.5%BP/ZnIn 2 S 4 photocatalysts were successively conducted and results showed that both BP and Pt played an important role in enhancing the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate. Therefore, the ternary 0.5%Pt/0.5%BP/ZnIn 2 S 4 composite exhibited the strongest hydrogen production efficiency at 1278 μmol/g/h, about 10 times higher than that of pristine ZnIn 2 S 4 (131 μmol/g/h) and represented a highly stable characteristic after suffering four recycles. The promoting hydrogen evolution of ternary photocatalyst could be ascribed to the unique bandgap and larger two-dimensional plane structure of BP, which provided abundant landing sites for the anchor of flower-like ZnIn 2 S 4 , thus leading to a well-inhibited recombination and efficient separation of photogenerated electrons and hole pairs between ZnIn 2 S 4 and BP. The remarkable photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance and prominent stability all indicated that 0.5%Pt/0.5%BP/ZnIn 2 S 4 was a promising photocatalyst candidate for solar hydrogen production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ultra-small Ag decorated on g-C 3 N 4 photocatalyst was facilely prepared. • Strong interaction between Ag+ and cyano group promoted the fabrication. • Ag/g-C 3 N 4 -Pre exhibited superior photocatalytic performance. • Photogenerated electrons and superoxide free radicals were responsible for mechanism. This work reported a facile method for the synthesis of ultra-small Ag on g-C 3 N 4 photocatalyst (donated as Ag/g-C 3 N 4 -Pre) via strong interaction between Ag+ and cyano group in monocyanamide. The Ag/g-C 3 N 4 -Pre photocatalyst exhibited superior performance both in photocatalytic degradation of pollutants and water splitting hydrogen production compared with that Ag/g-C 3 N 4 -Post photocatalyst derived by traditional photo-deposition method. Meanwhile, the characterization of prepared photocatalyst was correspondingly carried out and the mechanism responsible for the enhancement of photocatalytic activity using Ag/g-C 3 N 4 -Pre photocatalyst was discussed as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]