One-Step Solvothermal Synthesis of (Mn, In) (S, Se) Nanosheets with Porous Structure for Water Splitting Without Sacrificial Agents

Polyanionic semiconductor materials are starting to receive widespread attention because of their relatively small band gap and size. Here, a class of (Mn, In) (S, Se) nanosheets with a porous structure is prepared by one-step solvothermal method. (Mn, In) (S, Se) nanosheets exhibit the most excellent photocatalytic hydrogen splitting performance (396 µmolg −1 h −1 ) under 300 w xenon lamp irradiation without sacrificial agent, which is 11 times higher than that of MnIn 2 Se 4 (35 µmolg −1 h −1 ). This work opens a new gateway to exploring polyanionic photocatalysts for photocatalytic applications. Graphical Abstract Herein, a novel polyanionic semiconductor photocatalyst (Mn, In) (S, Se) nanosheets with a porous structure were prepared for the first time by one-step solvothermal method. The synthesized porous nanosheets can be used for photocatalytic hydrogen production in pure water without sacrificial agents under the irradiation of a xenon lamp. The satisfactory performance of (Mn, In) (S, Se) is tightly connected with the layered porous structure, which leads to more exposed active sites and shorter migration distances of photogenerated electrons and holes. Moreover, this polyanion modification strategy makes the band gap of the material smaller and accelerates the electron migration rate.