Photoreforming of Waste Plastics into H2 Using Zn x Cd1- x S Nanoplates Synthesized via Cation Exchange Reactions

Abstract

Solar-driven photoreforming of plastic waste into hydrogen offers a promising solution to simultaneously address environmental pollution and sustainable fuel production. However, developing efficient visible-light photocatalysts that couple plastic oxidation with proton reduction for green H2 generation is still a challenge. Herein, a series of ZnxCd1-xS (ZCS) nanoplates (NPs) is rationally synthesized via a cation exchange strategy with Cu1.8S NPs serving as sacrificial templates and used for efficient evolution of H2 from waste plastic. Among these, ZCS-5 NPs achieve an optimal balance between visible-light absorption and redox driving force, delivering a high hydrogen evolution rate of 39.81 mol g–1 h–1 under visible light, outperforming their binary CdS and ZnS NPs. Notably, ZCS-5 NPs also enabled efficient photoreforming of plastic substrates, achieving H2 evolution rates of 14.98 and 2.28 mol g–1 h–1 from polylactic acid and polyethylene terephthalate under mild aqueous conditions, respectively. Overall, this work presents a potential approach for solar-driven plastic upcycling and green hydrogen generation.