Surface indium vacancies promote photocatalytic H2O2 production over In2S3
Photocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) represents a green and cost-effective means to produce the high-value industrial compound H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>. However, the efficient H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> synthesis awaits in-depth knowledge of the ORR mechanisms for the design of highly active photocatalysts. In this work, surface indium vacancies (denote hereafter as V<sub>In</sub>) have been introduced into In<sub>2</sub>S<sub>3</sub>, which significantly boosts the photocatalytic activity for H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> production, with an optimal H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> generation rate of 4.77 ± 0.05 mmol·h<sup>-1</sup>·g<sub>cat.</sub><sup>-1</sup> under visible light illumination (λ ≥ 420 nm) and an apparent quantum efficiency (AQE) of 7.49 ± 0.01% at 420 ± 20 nm. Mechanistic analysis reveals the multifunctionality of V<sub>In</sub>, such as enlarging the chemisorption capacity of O<sub>2</sub>, enriching photo-generated electrons for ORR, endorsing high reducing power to photo-generated electrons, and promoting H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> desorption. These findings justify that surface cation vacancies open up new possibilities for H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> photosynthesis by leveraging their reaction dimensions in ORR.
Authors
- Zhiwen Zhuo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2616-7648)
- Xiaoxiang Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5042-9505)
- Guoan Lin
- Jialin Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4598-8326)
- Weiyi Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6981-2611)
- Jingjing Su
- Guisheng Li
- Qiong Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1448-4775)
Institutions
- Tongji University (CN)
- University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (CN)
- Hefei National Center for Physical Sciences at Nanoscale (CN)
- Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-11-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65538-w
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.45
Funders
- Salt Science Research Foundation
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Tongji University
- National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory
- Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
- Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi Province