Construction of Bi2WO6/ZnIn2S4 with Z-scheme structure for efficient photocatalytic performance

Highlights: • Z-scheme Bi₂WO₆/ZnIn₂S₄ composites show enhanced photocatalytic activity. • Zero-order kinetics and pseudo-first-order kinetics are observed at different stages of MO degradation. • Photocatalyst shows high degradation efficiency towards a different class of contaminants. As a potential candidate photocatalyst, high carrier recombination rate of ZnIn₂S₄ limits its application, and it is necessary to improve its performance by constructing suitable structure. In this study, Bi₂WO₆/ZnIn₂S₄ composites with Z-scheme structure were successfully prepared, and they show enhanced photocatalytic performance. The BWO/ZIS-2 shows the highest photocatalytic efficiency of 97.5% within 60 min for degrading methyl orange (MO), and maintain an efficiency of more than 90% after five reuses. Moreover, BWO/ZIS-2 can degrade various organic pollutants without selectivity. Rapid transfer of carriers inhibits the recombination of e⁻ and h⁺, which is responsible for high photocatalytic activity of Bi₂WO₆/ZnIn₂S₄.