Novel mesoporous P-doped graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets coupled with ZnIn2S4 nanosheets as efficient visible light driven heterostructures with remarkably enhanced photo-reduction activity.

In this report, we rationally designed and fabricated P-C3N4/ZnIn2S4 nanocomposites by in situ immobilizing ZnIn2S4 nanosheets onto the surface of mesoporous P-doped graphite carbon nitrogen (P-C3N4) nanosheets in a mixed solvothermal environment; their application to the photoreduction of 4-nitroaniline was used to estimate the photocatalytic performance. Different to the template route, here the mesoporous P-C3N4 nanosheets were prepared with a template-free strategy. The as-fabricated P-C3N4/ZnIn2S4 nanocomposites were systematically characterized by analyzing the phase structure, chemical components, electronic and optical properties and separation of charge carrier pairs. More importantly, these P-C3N4/ZnIn2S4 heterostructures have been proven to be highly efficient visible light responsive photocatalysts for photo-reduction, and meanwhile exhibit excellent photo-stability during recycling runs. The sufficient evidence reveals that the significantly improved photocatalytic performance is mainly attributed to the more efficient charge carrier separation based on the construction of a close heterogeneous interface. This work may provide new insights into the utilization of P-C3N4/ZnIn2S4 nanocomposites as visible light driven photocatalysts for comprehensive organic transformations in the field of fine chemical engineering.