A one-pot solvothermal method for the synthesis of a magnetically retrievable ZnFe2O4 incorporated biphase TiO2 photocatalyst for robust efficient solar fuel (hydrogen) production

Abstract

In response to the worldwide energy problem and environmental contamination that hinders any society's ability to develop. Herein, a 1-pot solvothermal approach was used to fabricate a ZnFe₂O₄ integrated biphase TiO₂ photocatalyst for use in solar fuel (hydrogen) generation. Using glycerol as a hole-scavenger, the synthesized material is exposed to solar light and tested for hydrogen generation. Following the addition of ZnFe₂O₄ to the TiO₂, a significant photoluminescence (PL) quenching and band gap reduction from 3.20 to 2.51 eV were noted. In total, 30 wt% ZnFe₂O₄ produces a peak solar fuel (hydrogen) generation rate of 879.8 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹, which is 7.3 and 9.5 times higher than TiO₂ and ZnFe₂O₄, respectively. It is worthy to mention that the optimized photocatalyst yielded a solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 1.01%. This notable enhancement is associated with band gap reduction, PL quenching, and heterostructured creation between ZnFe₂O4 and TiO₂. It is worthwhile to bring up here. It is important to note that, while utilizing the same photocatalyst, our findings are noticeably better than those that have been previously reported. Using solar light, this work has shown a potential method for synthesizing a ZnFe₂O₄-TiO₂-based photocatalyst for use in energy and environmental remediation.