Facile fabrication of N-doped ZnS nanomaterials for efficient photocatalytic performance of organic pollutant removal and H2 production

Novel N-doped ZnS microspheres were successfully synthesized by a facile one-step method. The as-prepared N-doped ZnS catalysts exhibited outstanding photocatalytic activities toward the removal of organic pollutants under natural sunlight and H2 generation by water splitting. As expected, the rationally designed N-doped ZnS catalysts displayed significantly enhanced photocatalytic H2 production performances, particularly N-ZS3, with the highest H2 evolution rate of 243.61 μmol g−1 h−1. In addition, in the presence of N-ZS3, ca. 99% metronidazole removal was achieved within 150 min under natural sunlight irradiation. Furthermore, the prepared catalysts exhibited high photocatalytic performance towards the removal of various other organic pollutants, including methyl orange, methylene blue, rhodamine B, ciprofloxacin, and sulfanilamide. The high photocatalytic performances of the prepared catalysts were attributed to N doping, which increased the visible light absorption capacity and electron transfer efficiency of ZnS. Finally, reaction mechanisms for photocatalytic oxidation and H2 generation were proposed. It is anticipated that the design and fabrication of the N-doped ZnS photocatalyst will provide beneficial insights for organic pollutant removal and H2 production applications. [Display omitted] •N-doped ZnS photocatalyst is cost-effectiveness and environmental benignancy.•N-doped ZnS displays enhanced photocatalytic activity compared with ZnS.•It exhibits the H2 evolution rate of 243.61 μmol g−1 h−1 and 99% removal of MTR.