Photocatalytic hydrogen production is a clean energy technology with sustainable development potential, but how to inhibit the rapid recombination of photogenerated carriers is still a challenge. The integration of piezoelectric and photocatalytic functionalities presents a transformative pathway to advance water splitting for sustainable hydrogen generation. Herein, we designed a novel Z-type piezoelectric photocatalytic heterojunction ZnCo₂O₄/Co_0.2Cd_0.8S-Vs (ZCO/CCS-Vs) containing sulfur vacancies for high-performance hydrogen production. The hydrogen production rate of 3% ZCO/CCS-Vs (3% represents the mass fraction) composite catalyst reached 12.78 mmol/g/h under piezo-photocatalytic conditions, which was 3.35 times that of pure CCS (3.82 mmol/g/h). The formation of Z-type heterojunction between ZCO and CCS-Vs can greatly improve the utilization of photogenerated electrons and holes, which have high reduction and oxidation abilities, respectively. At the same time, sulfur vacancies lead to a great enhancement of catalytic active sites. Therefore, 3% ZCO/CCS-Vs has excellent light absorption ability, and the introduction of piezoelectric polarization not only eliminates the electrostatic shielding, but also enhances the separation of electron-hole pairs. This work establishes a new paradigm in the rational design of Z-type heterostructure photocatalysts, integrating piezoelectric functionality with enhanced catalytic performance and long-term stability.

中文翻译：

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Z 型 ZnCo2O4/Co0.2Cd0.8S 异质结与硫空位，用于高效压电光催化制氢

光催化制氢是一种具有可持续发展潜力的清洁能源技术，但如何抑制光生载流子的快速复合仍然是一个挑战。压电和光催化功能的集成为推进水分解以实现可持续制氢提供了一条变革性的途径。在此，我们设计了一种新型的 Z 型压电光催化异质结 ZnCo₂O₄/Co_0.2Cd_0.8S-Vs （ZCO/CCS-Vs），含有硫空位，用于高性能制氢。在压电光催化条件下，3% ZCO/CCS-Vs（3% 代表质量分数）复合催化剂的产氢速率达到 12.78 mmol/g/h，是纯 CCS（3.82 mmol/g/h）的 3.35 倍。ZCO 和 CCS-Vs 之间形成 Z 型异质结可以大大提高光生电子和空穴的利用率，它们分别具有很高的还原和氧化能力。同时，硫空位导致催化活性位点的极大增强。因此，3% ZCO/CCS-Vs 具有优异的光吸收能力，压电极化的引入不仅消除了静电屏蔽，还增强了电子-空穴对的分离。这项工作为 Z 型异质结构光催化剂的合理设计建立了新的范式，将压电功能与增强的催化性能和长期稳定性相结合。