One‐step synthesis of ZnS / ZnO using HMDA as precursor and active part for high photocatalytic hydrogen production

BACKGROUND The use of organic molecules to improve the performance of semiconductors (such as using ZnS in hydrogen production) has been widely studied. This work studies the formation of a photocatalyst formed by ZnS/ZnO anchored to an organic molecule (hexamethylenediamine) under different amounts of the organic material and its performance in hydrogen production is evaluated. RESULTS The materials were synthesized by the precipitation method, forming ZnS/ZnO composite, 3HMDA and 9HMDA materials showed flower‐like structure. The 6HMDA material showed a nanotube like structure and high surface area . Likewise, the anchoring of the organic material forming stacked lamellae is confirmed. Regarding hydrogen production, the most active material was 6HMDA, which showed an excellent performance, producing 3281 μmoles after 5 h of reaction with a production rate of 12 916 μmoles h −1 g ‑1 ; 6HMDA increased the effectiveness with respect to ZnS by a factor of 4.3, while the 9HMDA material increased it 1.5 times. CONCLUSION The organic material and the ZnS/ZnO work together to improve the photocatalytic activity and stability of the material, increasing hydrogen production under UV light. These results show that it is possible to obtain an efficient material with excellent photocatalytic performance by a relatively simple synthesis method. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).