부산대학교 도서관

Solar-driven water splitting by inorganic semiconductor photocatalysts is considered a promising method to produce hydrogen fuel. Loading inorganic semiconductor on cellulose fiber to construct photocatalytic paper contributes to the dispersion and recycling of photocatalyst. In addition, the photocatalytic paper floating on water can build a solid–gas biphase photocatalytic interface (photothermal-generated steam/photocatalytic paper/hydrogen), replacing the traditional liquid–solid–gas triphase photocatalytic interface (liquid water/photocatalyst/hydrogen) for improving photocatalytic kinetics. Here, we design and synthesize a photocatalytic composite paper with zinc sulfide (ZnS) anchored onto cellulose fibers (CF) with the help of polydopamine (PDA). PDA achieves high load and uniform distribution of ZnS on cellulose fibers, and forms the ZnS/PDA heterojunction to increase photogenerated charge separation efficiency and photocatalytic stability. Solid–gas biphase photocatalytic interface constructed by the CF/PDA/ZnS composite paper minimizes the interface barriers of hydrogen transport and water molecular adsorption for improving hydrogen evolution rate. The CF/PDA/ZnS composite paper shows a high hydrogen production rate up to 18706.8 μmol h−1 g−1. Stable loading of ZnS/PDA heterojunction in composite paper contributes to the photocatalytic stability. In the third photocatalytic cycle, the hydrogen evolution rate of CF/PDA/ZnS composite paper remains 96.4%. This work inspires that anchoring of inorganic semiconductor on cellulose fibers with the help of PDA can be a promising strategy for designing efficient photocatalytic paper for solar hydrogen production.