Recently, Dr. Enna Ha and Prof. Junqing Hu reported a synthetic strategy of dual-vacancy solid solution nanoparticles for H₂generation. This work was published in Nano Research entitled with “Surface disorder engineering in ZnCdS for cocatalyst free visiblelight driven hydrogen production” (DOI: 10.1007/s12274-021-3587-5).

Metal chalcogenide solid solution, especially ZnCdS, has been intensively investigated in photocatalytic H₂generation due to their cost-effective synthetic procedure and adjustable band structures. In this work, we report on the defect engineering of ZnCdS with surface disorder layer by simple room temperature Li-ethylenediamine (Li-EDA) treatment. Experimental results confirm the formation of unusual Zn and S dual vacancies, where rich S vacancies (V_S) served as electron trapping sites, meanwhile Zn vacancies (V_Zn) served as hole trapping sites. The refined structure significantly facilitates the photo charge carrier transfer and improves photocatalytic properties of ZnCdS. The disordered ZnCdS shows a highest photocatalytic H₂production rate of 33.6 mmol·g⁻¹·h⁻¹under visible light with superior photocatalytic stabilities, which is 7.3 times higher than pristine ZnCdS and 7 times of Pt (1 wt.%) loaded ZnCdS.This work enlightens the strategy of tuning the band structure of ternary sulfide solid solution for photocatalytic H₂production through a solution processed modification with Li-EDA, which would be a novel and effective method for industrial applications.