Cellulose‐Derived Carbon Dot‐Guided Growth of ZnIn₂S₄ Nanosheets for Photocatalytic Oxidation of 5‐Hydroxymethylfurfural into 2,5‐Diformylfuran

Abstract

Cellulose-derived carbon (CC) dot-directed growth of ZnIn 2 S 4 was achieved through hydrothermal treatment of carboxylated cellulose followed by in situ growth of ZnIn 2 S 4 nanosheets. The carbon dots inherited from carboxylated cellulose equip plenty of surface carboxyl groups, which induce the ionic interaction with Zn 2 + and In 3 + and the guided growth of ZnIn 2 S 4 . As a result, the nanosheets of ZnIn 2 S 4 are evenly and intimately grown on the small carbon dots, providing high-speed channels for charges transfer. In conjunction with the reinforced visible-light capture and good conductivity of carbon dots, the resultant CC/ZnIn 2 S 4 shows an outstanding photocatalytic activity. As a proof-of-concept, visible-light-driven 5hydroxymethylfurfural oxidation into 2,5-diformylfuran was conducted. The evolution of 2,5-diformylfuran over the optimal CC/ZnIn 2 S 4 sample can reach ~2980 μmol g À 1 , about 3.4 times that of pristine ZnIn 2 S 4 . Additionally, the apparent quantum yield could attain 3.4 % at a wavelength of 400 nm.

Selective oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-diformylfuran with ZnIn2S4 2D nanosheets and atmospheric O2 under visible light

“…15 A type-IV isotherm of ZnIn 2 S 4 (Fig. 1c) was obtained, with a relatively high specic surface area of 184.7 m 2 g −1 in comparison with previous works, 16,17 and the average pore size was about 4 nm. Moreover, a band gap of 2.63 eV is estimated from Tauc's plot (Fig.…”

“…7 Carbon dots/ ZnIn 2 S 4 was also used for HMF oxidation, showing a DFF formation rate of about 298 mmol g −1 h −1 . 8 Nevertheless, the reaction time of these works about HMF oxidation was relatively long, and there is still plenty of room to improve the performance of the photocatalyst used. A deeper understanding of the mechanism of the reaction can also contribute to this.…”

“…To determine the band structure of ZnIn 2 S 4 , the conduction band potential of ZnIn 2 S 4 was estimated to be −0.44 V (vs. NHE) by the Mott-Schottky curve (Fig. S8 †), which implies O 2 can be reduced to cO 2 17 Accordingly, the valence band was calculated to be +2.19 V (vs. NHE). The redox potentials of HMF/DFF (1.61 V) and DFF/oxidized DFF (2.03 V), 24 thus HMF can be selectively oxidized into DFF over the obtained ZnIn 2 S 4 .…”

Photocatalytic selective conversion of furfural to γ-butyrolactone through tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol intermediates over Pd NP decorated g-C3N4

“…29 There are a few reports on the photocatalytic reduction of HMF in which BiVO 4 , Ag-aerogel-CN x , and WO 3 /PdO x were employed. [30][31][32] Moreover, selective photocatalytic oxidation reactions of FAL and HMF to their partially oxidized products (such as DFF) and oxidized products (such as FDCA) were explored. Therefore, developing an efficient catalyst for photocatalytic reduction and oxidation is essential to synthesize valuable chemicals, generally known to be synthesized via conventional thermal catalytic routes.…”

Ligand functionalization on Zr-MOFs enables efficient visible-light-driven H2O2evolution in pure water

“…ZnIn 2 S 4 is a typical layered semiconductor with favorable chemical and photostability, enviable visible-light absorption and delicate band configuration with a strong reduction ability that can reduce O 2 into H 2 O 2 . 27,28 Thereby, ZnIn 2 S 4 was adopted to sensitize UiO-66-X and constructed heterostructures to optimize the photocatalytic performances. On account of the favorable visible-light capture and unique Z-scheme heterostructures, ZnIn 2 S 4 modified UiO-66-NH 2 and UiO-66-(OH) 2 performed remarkable activities for photocatalytic H 2 O 2 evolution.…”