Construction of a 0D/2D heterojunction based on ZnO nanoparticles and ZnIn2S4 nanosheets to improve photocatalytic degradation efficiency

To improve the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of ZnO and ZnIn2S4 for organic pollutants, ZnO/ZnIn2S4 0D/2D composite heterojunction materials were constructed using 0D ZnO nanoparticles and 2D layered ZnIn2S4. ZnO nanoparticles were fixed on the surface of 2D ZnIn2S4 to form type-II heterojunctions, which provided abundant active sites and presented low ionization energy, good visible light adsorption, and low electron-hole recombination rates. The fabricated ZnO/ZnIn2S4 composites presented an excellent performance in photocatalytic experiments. The photocatalytic first-order kinetic coefficient of the 10% ZnO/ZnIn2S4 composite with a ZnO loading of 10 wt% was 4.9 times higher than that of ZnO nanoparticles. Therefore, constructing 0D/2D heterojunctions is an effective method for improving the degradation efficiency of ZnIn2S4 toward organic pollutants.