Enhanced PEC water splitting efficiency by type II heterojunction CdIn2S4/g-C3N4 photoanode construction

Abstract

The employment of catalysts to split water to create hydrogen is viewed as an effective solution to the energy crisis problem. In this work, type II heterojunction CdIn₂S₄/g-C₃N₄ nanocomposites with different mass ratios were successfully synthesised using a simple sonication technique. The results show that the constructed CdIn₂S₄/g-C₃N₄ heterojunctions exhibit better catalytic performance in the photoelectrocatalytic water splitting reaction, and the photocurrent density of the composite with a composite ratio of 15% reaches 0.35 mA cm⁻² at 1.23 V (vs. RHE), which is a 2.33-fold enhancement relative to g-C₃N₄. The constructed heterojunction facilitates the photogenerated charge transfer between CdIn₂S₄ and g-C₃N₄, effectively accelerating the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes. This work provides theoretical guidance for efficient PEC water splitting technology.