Effect of the indium sulfide phase in CuInS2-TiO2 photocatalysts to boost hydrogen evolution by water splitting

The purpose of this study is to develop a visible light responsive photocatalyst that can remove such environmental pollutants as polysulfide anions and simultaneously generate clean hydrogen energy. An environmentally friendly copper indium sulfide (CuInS 2 , CIS) nano-colloid was synthesized in aqueous medium for the design of such a photocatalyst. Characterization of the hydrophilic CIS with different In/Cu ratios were studied by XRD, Raman, UV-Vis, photoluminescence spectroscopy. These results showed that the long-lived photoexcited electrons in the CIS with higher In/Cu ratio can be expected to achieve efficient interaction with the reactant molecules. On the photocatalytic activity of CIS, the effect of such various supports as TiO 2 , and In/Cu ratio of CIS on the reaction promotion was examined. The CIS deposited TiO 2 (CIS-TiO 2 ) showed higher photocatalytic activity than bulk CIS, and the indium sulfide-richer CIS-TiO 2 showed better performance. The indium sulfide moiety participates in the compensation of the defect sites in the CIS as well as the interaction between In-rich CIS and TiO 2 can achieve effective charge carrier separation. This is the first report finding that the indium-richer CuInS 2 plays an important role in an improvement of the photocatalytic activity. • Environmentally friendly copper indium sulfide (CIS) was synthesized in water. • Indium-rich CIS colloids exhibited high PL yields. • Photocatalytic H 2 production from wastewater was performed on CIS-TiO 2 . • In-rich CIS-TiO 2 exhibited high activity due to effective charge separation.