Gram-scale synthesis of ZnS/NiO core-shell hierarchical nanostructures and their enhanced H2 production in crude glycerol and sulfide wastewater

Abstract Design and development of the efficient and durable photocatalyst that generates H2 fuel utilizing industrial wastewater under solar light is a sustainable process. Innumerable photocatalysts have been reported for efficient hydrogen production, but their large-scale production with the same efficiency of hydrogen production is a challenging task. In this study, a few gram-scale syntheses of ZnS wrapped with NiO hierarchical core-shell nanostructure via the surfactant-mediated process has been reported. Morphology and crystal structure analysis of ZnS/NiO showed spherical shaped hierarchical core-shell with cubic and face-centered cubic crystal structures. The surface examination confirmed the presence of Zn2+, S2-, Ni2+ and O2- ions in the nanocomposite. The photocurrent and photo-luminescence studies of pristine and nanocomposites revealed that core-shell material is non-corrosive with a prolonged life-time of photo-excitons. Parametric studies on photocatalytic H2 generation in lab-scale photoreactor using crude glycerol in water recorded a high rate of H2 generation of 9.3 mmol.h-1.g-1 of catalyst under the simulated solar light irradiation. Optimized reaction parameters are extended to a demonstrative photoreactor containing aqueous crude glycerol produced 18.5 mmol.h-1 of H2 generation under the natural solar light irradiation. The same nanostructures were further tested with the simulated sulfide wastewater and the optimized catalyst showed H2 production of 350 mL.h-1. The experimental results of time-on stream and catalytic stability demonstrated that ZnS/NiO hierarchical core-shell nanostructures can be recyclable and reusable for the continuous photocatalytic H2 generation.