A review on integrated heterostructure nanophotocatalysts and their performance in green hydrogen production

Oroujzadeh, Amirreza; Seyyed Jobbedar, Nasim; Nasirpour, Niloofar; Nematollahzadeh, Ali

doi:10.22034/jrenew.2026.236169

A review on integrated heterostructure nanophotocatalysts and their performance in green hydrogen production

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

Amirreza Oroujzadeh ¹

Nasim Seyyed Jobbedar ²

Niloofar Nasirpour ³

Ali Nematollahzadeh ³

¹ Chemical Engineering department,, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran

² Chemical Engineering Department,, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran

³ Chemical engineering department,, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22034/jrenew.2026.236169

Abstract

nD/nD hybrid nanophotocatalysts—combinations of different nanoscale dimensions—have recently gained attention as an innovative and efficient approach to improve the performance of hydrogen production systems via photocatalytic water splitting. This review provides an overview of various photocatalytic heterojunctions including Type I, Type II, Type III, Schottky junctions, Z-scheme, and S-scheme systems and analyzing the crucial roles of dimensional design (nD/nD) and band structure engineering in enhancing the photocatalytic activity. Among these, S-scheme heterostructures have demonstrated superior performance due to their effective spatial separation of photogenerated charge carriers and preservation of strong redox potential. Moreover, multidimensional hybrids such as 0D/2D and 1D/3D architectures, with their increased interfacial area, efficient charge transport, and reduced electron–hole recombination, have shown significantly enhanced hydrogen evolution rates. Experimental findings reveal that photocatalysts such as CdS/ZnS, ZnIn₂S₄/g-C₃N₄, and CdS/NiCr₂O₄–LDH—configured as S-scheme or Type II heterojunctions—achieve apparent quantum yields of up to 46.9% and hydrogen evolution rates as high as 25,491.2 µmol/g·h. Overall, the integration of nanostructural engineering, selection of suitable material, and rational heterojunction design plays a vital role in the advancement of next-generation photocatalysts for green hydrogen production.

Keywords

Nanomaterials

Hydrogen production

Nanocomposite

Photocatalyst

Heterostructure

Subjects

Solar Energy

- مراجع

[1] K. Zhu et al., "A novel I-type 0D/0D ZnS/ Ag6Si2O7 heterojunction for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution," Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, vol. 175, p. 111206, 2023/04/01/ 2023.

[2] Q. Zhang and Y. Yin, "All-Inorganic Metal Halide Perovskite Nanocrystals: Opportunities and Challenges," ACS Central Science, vol. 4, no. 6, pp. 668-679, 2018/06/27 2018.

[3] K. Maeda, "Z-Scheme Water Splitting Using Two Different Semiconductor Photocatalysts," ACS Catalysis, vol. 3, no. 7, pp. 1486-1503, 2013/07/05 2013.

[4] Y. Zhang, D. Chen, N. Li, Q. Xu, H. Li, and J. Lu, "Fabricating 1D/2D Co3O4/ZnIn2S4 core–shell heterostructures with boosted charge transfer for photocatalytic hydrogen production," Applied Surface Science, vol. 610, p. 155272, 2023/02/01/ 2023.

[5] H. Kisch and D. Bahnemann, "Best Practice in Photocatalysis: Comparing Rates or Apparent Quantum Yields?," The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, vol. 6, no. 10, pp. 1907-1910, 2015/05/21 2015.

[6] S. Kumar, A. Kumar, A. Kumar, and V. Krishnan, "Nanoscale zinc oxide based heterojunctions as visible light active photocatalysts for hydrogen energy and environmental remediation," Catalysis Reviews, vol. 62, no. 3, pp. 346-405, 2020.

[7] X. Ma et al., "Fabrication of novel noble-metal-free ZnIn2S4/WC Schottky junction heterojunction photocatalyst: Efficient charge separation, increased active sites and low hydrogen production overpotential for boosting visible-light H2 evolution," Journal of Alloys and Compounds, vol. 901, p. 163709, 2022/04/25/ 2022.

[8] P. Zhou, J. Yu, and M. Jaroniec, "All-Solid-State Z-Scheme Photocatalytic Systems," Advanced Materials, vol. 26, no. 29, pp. 4920-4935, 2014/08/01 2014.

[9] J. Tao et al., "Efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution coupled with benzaldehyde production over 0D Cd0.5Zn0.5S/2D Ti3C2 Schottky heterojunction," Journal of Advanced Ceramics, vol. 11, no. 7, pp. 1117-1130, 2022/07/01 2022.

[10] M. H. Barzegar et al., "S-scheme heterojunction g-C3N4/TiO2 with enhanced photocatalytic activity for degradation of a binary mixture of cationic dyes using solar parabolic trough reactor," Chemical Engineering Research and Design, vol. 174, pp. 307-318, 2021/10/01/ 2021.

[11] H. Zheng, Y. Li, H. Liu, X. Yin, and Y. Li, "Construction of heterostructure materials toward functionality," Chemical Society Reviews, 10.1039/C0CS00222D vol. 40, no. 9, pp. 4506-4524, 2011.

[12] L. Wang et al., "Interfacial active-site-rich 0D Co3O4/1D TiO2 p-n heterojunction for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution," Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 428, p. 131338, 07/01 2021.

[13] D. Zhang et al., "0D/2D Z-scheme heterojunctions of Zn-AgIn5S8 QDs/α-Fe2O3 nanosheets for efficient visible-light-driven hydrogen production," Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 417, p. 128275, 2021/08/01/ 2021.

[14] K. Wang, X. Shao, K. Zhang, J. Wang, X. Wu, and H. Wang, "0D/3D Bi3TaO7/ZnIn2S4 heterojunction photocatalyst towards degradation of antibiotics coupled with simultaneous H2 evolution: In situ irradiated XPS investigation and S-scheme mechanism insight," Applied Surface Science, vol. 596, p. 153444, 2022/09/15/ 2022.

[15] T. Liu et al., "1D/1D W18O49/Cd0.9Zn0.1S S-scheme heterojunction with spatial charge separation for high-yield photocatalytic H2 evolution," Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, vol. 637, pp. 465-476, 2023/05/01/ 2023.

[16] G. Gao et al., "The construction of 3D hierarchical CdS/NiAl-LDH photocatalyst for efficient hydrogen evolution," International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 48, no. 6, pp. 2200-2210, 2023/01/19/ 2023.

[17] M. Wu et al., "Metallic 1T MoS2 nanosheet arrays vertically grown on activated carbon fiber cloth for enhanced Li-ion storage performance," Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 10.1039/C7TA03497K vol. 5, no. 27, pp. 14061-14069, 2017.

[18] H. Dong et al., "CoCO3 hierarchical structure embedded on g-C3N4 nanosheets to assemble 3D/2D Z-scheme heterojunction towards efficiently and stably photocatalytic hydrogen production," International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 46, 07/01 2021.

[19] J. Jia, L. Zheng, K. Li, Y. Zhang, and H. Xie, "Two-electron transfer mechanism from 3D/3D nickel selenide/MoS2 heterostructure accelerates photocatalytic hydrogen evolution and tetracycline hydrochloride removal," Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 429, p. 132432, 2022/02/01/ 2022.

[20] S. Zhu, X. Qian, D. Lan, Z. Yu, X. Wang, and W. Su, "Accelerating charge transfer for highly efficient visible-light-driven photocatalytic H2 production: In-situ constructing Schottky junction via anchoring Ni-P alloy onto defect-rich ZnS," Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, vol. 269, p. 118806, 02/01 2020.

[21] X. Wang, Z. Cao, Y. Zhang, H. Xu, S. Cao, and R. Zhang, "All-Solid-State Z-Scheme Pt/ZnS-ZnO Heterostructure Sheets for Photocatalytic Simultaneous Evolution of H2 and O2," Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 385, p. 123782, 12/01 2019.

[22] Y. Tao et al., "Efficient visible-light-driven alcohol oxidation coupled hydrogen production on 0D/0D “n-NiWO4/p-CdS” S-scheme heterojunction," Journal of Materiomics, vol. 11, no. 4, p. 100997, 2025/07/01/ 2025.

[23] R. K. Chava, J. Y. Do, and M. Kang, "Enhanced photoexcited carrier separation in CdS–SnS2 heteronanostructures: a new 1D–0D visible-light photocatalytic system for the hydrogen evolution reaction," Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 10.1039/C9TA03059J vol. 7, no. 22, pp. 13614-13628, 2019.

[24] Y. Wang, H. Wang, Y. Li, M. Zhang, and Y. Zheng, "Designing a 0D/1D S-Scheme Heterojunction of Cadmium Selenide and Polymeric Carbon Nitride for Photocatalytic Water Splitting and Carbon Dioxide Reduction," (in eng), Molecules, vol. 27, no. 19, Sep 23 2022.

[25] Y. A. Sethi et al., "CdS decorated MnWO4 nanorod nanoheterostructures: a new 0D–1D hybrid system for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production under natural sunlight," Nanoscale Advances, 10.1039/D0NA00843E vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 508-516, 2021.

[26] Y. Lu, Y. Wan, J. Liu, B. Hu, Y. Xie, and X. Li, "Robust photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance of 0D/1D NiO/CdS S-scheme heterojunction," Separation and Purification Technology, vol. 358, p. 130126, 2025/06/07/ 2025.

[27] J. Hou, C. Yang, H. Cheng, Z. Wang, S. Jiao, and H. Zhu, "Ternary 3D architectures of CdS QDs/graphene/ZnIn2S4 heterostructures for efficient photocatalytic H2 production," Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 10.1039/C3CP51857D vol. 15, no. 37, pp. 15660-15668, 2013.

[28] S. Zhang et al., "Dopant and Defect Doubly Modified CeO2/g-C3N4 Nanosheets as 0D/2D Z-Scheme Heterojunctions for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution: Experimental and Density Functional Theory Studies," ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, vol. 9, no. 34, pp. 11479-11492, 2021/08/30 2021.

[29] F. Guo, H. Sun, Y. Shi, F. Zhou, and W. Shi, "CdS nanoparticles decorated hexagonal Fe2O3 nanosheets with a Z-scheme photogenerated electron transfer path for improved visible-light photocatalytic hydrogen production," Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, vol. 43, pp. 266-274, 2022/03/01/ 2022.

[30] J. Yu et al., "A S-scheme 0D/2D heterojunction formed by decorating Cd0.5Zn0.5S nanoparticles on Cu2MoS4 plates for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen generation," Separation and Purification Technology, vol. 354, p. 128694, 2025/02/19/ 2025.

[31] X. Liu, Z. Jiang, L. Xu, and C. Liu, "Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution over 0D/3D NiTiO3 nanoparticles/CdIn2S4 microspheres heterostructure photocatalyst," International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 48, no. 58, pp. 22079-22090, 2023/07/08/ 2023.

[32] Y. Sun, X. Wang, Q. Fu, and C. Pan, "A novel hollow flower-like 0D/3D Zn0.5Cd0.5S/NiCoZn-LDH photocatalyst with n-n heterojunction for high hydrogen production," Applied Surface Science, vol. 564, p. 150379, 2021/10/30/ 2021.

[33] D. Xiang, X. Hao, X. Guo, G. Wang, K. Yang, and Z. Jin, "Rational Construction of Z-Scheme Charge Transfer Based on 2D Graphdiyne (g-CnH2n−2) Coupling with Amorphous Co3O4 Quantum Dots for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation," Advanced Materials Interfaces, vol. 9, no. 27, p. 2201400, 2022/09/01 2022.

[34] X. Guo, C. Chang, G. Wang, X. Hao, and Z. Jin, "CoV-LDH and ZnxCd1–xS Solid-Solution Construct 0D/3D S-Scheme Heterojunction for Activated Solar Hydrogen Evolution," ACS Applied Energy Materials, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 5064-5075, 2022/04/25 2022.

[35] T. Liu et al., "Fabrication of carbon-coated 0D/3D MoS2/ZIS core-shell hybrid structure with enhanced photocatalytic H2-evolution from water splitting," Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, vol. 686, p. 133419, 2024/04/05/ 2024.

[36] X. Zhou et al., "Metal-free carbon nanotube–SiC nanowire heterostructures with enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution under visible light irradiation," Catalysis Science & Technology, 10.1039/C4CY01757A vol. 5, no. 5, pp. 2798-2806, 2015.

[37] F. Lin et al., "Electrostatic self-assembly combined with microwave hydrothermal strategy: construction of 1D/1D carbon nanofibers/crystalline g-C3N4 heterojunction for boosting photocatalytic hydrogen production," Nano Energy, vol. 99, p. 107432, 2022/08/01/ 2022.

[38] X. Yao et al., "Constructing MoO3-x/Mn0.3Cd0.7S S-scheme heterojunction with LSPR and photothermal effects for enhanced full spectrum hydrogen evolution," Applied Surface Science, vol. 645, p. 158890, 2024/02/01/ 2024.

[39] G. Yang et al., "Construction of multi-scale 1D/2D CdS/ZnS(en)0.5 nanorod/nanosheet heterojunction to boost photocatalytic hydrogen generation performance," Applied Surface Science, vol. 578, p. 152033, 2022/03/15/ 2022.

[40] D. Zhang et al., "Air‐condition process for scalable fabrication of CdS/ZnS 1D/2D heterojunctions toward efficient and stable photocatalytic hydrogen production," Carbon Energy, vol. 5, 12/01 2022.

[41] F. Xing, C. Cheng, J. Zhang, Q. Liu, C. Chen, and C. Huang, "Tunable charge transfer efficiency in HxMoO3@ZnIn2S4 hierarchical direct Z-scheme heterojunction toward efficient visible-light-driven hydrogen evolution," Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, vol. 285, p. 119818, 2021/05/15/ 2021.

[42] L. Ma et al., "In situ construction of noble-metal-free coaxial core-shell 1D/3D paraotwayite-type α-Ni(OH)2@ZnIn2S4 heterojunction for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution," Journal of Alloys and Compounds, vol. 1025, p. 180218, 2025/04/25/ 2025.

[43] M. Du et al., "Significantly boosted photocatalytic hydrogen evolution by Pd–TiO2/ZnIn2S4 nanowires heterojunction under simulated sunlight," Nanotechnology, vol. 36, no. 18, p. 185603, 2025.

[44] J. Tian et al., "Efficient photocatalytic H2 evolution over NiMoO4/Twinned-Cd0.5Zn0.5S double S-scheme homo-heterojunctions," Composites Part B: Engineering, vol. 277, p. 111389, 2024/05/15/ 2024.

[45] R. Du et al., "2D/2D Heterojunction of TiO2 Nanoparticles and Ultrathin G-C3N4 Nanosheets for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution," Nanomaterials, vol. 12, no. 9. doi: 10.3390/nano12091557

[46] G. Zhang et al., "Internal electric field engineering of bifunctional 2D/2D heterojunction photocatalyst for cooperative H2 production and alcohol conversion," Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, vol. 331, p. 122725, 2023/08/15/ 2023.

[47] J. Wang, Y. Shi, H. Sun, W. Shi, and F. Guo, "Fabrication of Bi4Ti3O12/ZnIn2S4 S-scheme heterojunction for achieving efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production," Journal of Alloys and Compounds, vol. 930, p. 167450, 2023/01/05/ 2023.

[48] W. Yang, M. Xu, K. Y. Tao, J. H. Zhang, D.-C. Zhong, and T. B. Lu, "Building 2D/2D CdS/MOLs Heterojunctions for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution," Small, vol. 18, 04/01 2022.

[49] X.-L. Yin, D.-Q. Liu, L.-L. Li, B. Sun, and Y.-L. Wang, "2D/2D ReS2/CdS nanosheets-on-nanoribbon heterostructure for highly efficient H2 evolution under visible light irradiation," Renewable Energy, vol. 251, p. 123456, 2025/10/01/ 2025.

[50] J. Pan et al., "Near-Infrared-Induced Photothermal Enhanced Photocatalytic H2 Production for 3D/2D Heterojunctions of Snowflake-like CuS/g-C3N4 Nanosheets," Inorganic Chemistry, vol. 62, no. 1, pp. 624-635, 2023/01/09 2023.

[51] F. Mu et al., "2D/3D S-scheme heterojunction of carbon nitride/iodine-deficient bismuth oxyiodide for photocatalytic hydrogen production and bisphenol A degradation," Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, vol. 612, pp. 722-736, 2022/04/15/ 2022.

[52] H. Dong et al., "CoCO3 hierarchical structure embedded on g-C3N4 nanosheets to assemble 3D/2D Z-scheme heterojunction towards efficiently and stably photocatalytic hydrogen production," International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 46, no. 63, pp. 32044-32054, 2021/09/13/ 2021.

[53] Y. Chen et al., "Facile fabrication of the Zn0.5Cd0.5S/ZnIn2S4 S-scheme heterojunction for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production and tetracycline degradation," International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 61, pp. 975-985, 2024/04/03/ 2024.

[54] J. Hu et al., "Bifunctional honeycomb hierarchical structured 3D/3D ReS2/ZnIn2S4-Sv heterojunction for efficient photocatalytic H2-evolution integrated with biomass oxidation," Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 453, p. 139957, 2023/02/01/ 2023.

[55] Y. Qu et al., "3D/3D Bamboo Charcoal/Bi2WO6 Bifunctional Photocatalyst for Degradation of Organic Pollutants and Efficient H2 Evolution Coupling with Furfuryl Alcohols Oxidation," Molecules, vol. 29, no. 11. doi: 10.3390/molecules29112476