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[Display omitted] As a renewable green energy, hydrogen has received widespread attention due to its huge potential in solving energy shortages and environment pollution. In this paper, a one-step solvothermal method was applied to grow ultra-thin g-C 3 N 4 (UCN) nanosheets and NiS nanoparticles on the surface of ZnIn 2 S 4 (ZIS). A ternary NiS/ZnIn 2 S 4 /ultra-thin-g-C 3 N 4 composite material with dual high-speed charge transfer channels was constructed for the advancement of the photocatalytic H 2 generation. The optimal ternary catalyst 1.5wt.%NiS/ZnIn 2 S 4 /ultra-thin-g-C 3 N 4 (NiS/ZIS/UCN) achieved a H 2 evolution yield reached to 5.02 mmolg−1h−1, which was 5.23 times superior than that of pristine ZnIn 2 S 4 (0.96 mmolg−1h−1) and even outperform than that of the best precious metal modified 3.0 wt%Pt/ZnIn 2 S 4 (4.08 mmolg−1h−1). The AQY at 420 nm could be achieved as high as 30.5%. The increased photocatalytic performance of NiS/ZIS/UCN could be ascribed to the type-I heterojunctions between intimated ZIS and UCN. In addition, NiS co-catalyst with large quantity of H 2 evolution sites, could result in efficient photo-induced charges separation and migration. Furthermore, the NiS/ZIS/UCN composite exhibited excellent H 2 evolution stability and recyclability. This work would also offer a reference for the design and synthesis of ternary co-catalyst with heterojunction composite for green energy conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting the separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs and enhancing the charge carrier transfer are critical in photocatalysis. In our work, a ball-flower-like NiS/Zn3In2S6/g-C3N4 photocatalyst fabricated by a hydrothermal method exhibited superior performance for photocatalytic water splitting. The optimized 2.0% NiS/Zn3In2S6/g-C3N4 rivaled noble metal based Pt/g-C3N4 and showed an apparent quantum efficiency (AQE) of 24.3% at 420 nm, with a H2 yield of 4.135 mmol g−1 h−1, which was 30.4 and 9.51 times that of pure g-C3N4 and binary Zn3In2S6/g-C3N4 composites, respectively. The experimental and characterization results suggested that the heterojunction formed between Zn3In2S6/g-C3N4 and the decorating NiS co-catalyst cooperatively suppressed the electron–hole recombination and facilitated the charge carrier transfer, thus resulting in significant improvement of the H2 evolution performance. Moreover, the increased specific surface area and the enhanced visible-light absorption also contributed to superior water splitting performance. The prepared ternary catalytic system with the heterojunction and non-noble metal co-catalyst has great potential as an alternative to noble metals for achieving cost-efficient water splitting systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]