The charge carriers’ separation efficiency, light absorption capacity and microstructure of photocatalysts are important factors affecting the photocatalytic performance. Herein, we prepared the hierarchical ZnIn₂S₄ (ZIS) microspheres-confined CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles (CFO NPs) p-n junction (CFO/ZIS) with enhanced charge carriers’ separation and extensive visible light response. Surprisingly, the 1% CFO/ZIS exhibits the optimal photocatalytic H₂ evolution (PHE) activity, which is about over 3.7 times higher than pure ZIS. Furthermore, the apparent quantum yield (AQY) of the1% CFO/ZIS reaches 5.0% at 420 nm. In addition, the effects of various sacrificial reagent on the PHE were investigated in depth. And the formed photocatalytic reaction path of p-n junction effectively prevents the photocorrosion of ZIS. Hence, the photocatalytic activity and crystalline structure of 1% CFO/ZIS have no obvious change after five photocatalytic cycles, which shows that the photocatalyst possesses excellent chemical stability. Moreover, the as-prepared p-n junction shows outstanding photocatalytic performance for the degradation of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT). According to a series of experiments and characterizations, a possible photocatalytic mechanism for the CFO/ZIS p-n junction was proposed.

载流子的分离效率，光吸收能力和光催化剂的微观结构是影响光催化性能的重要因素。在这里，我们准备了分层的ZnIn ₂ S ₄（ZIS）微球约束的CoFe ₂ O ₄纳米颗粒（CFO NPs）pn结（CFO / ZIS），具有增强的载流子分离能力和广泛的可见光响应。令人惊讶的是，1％CFO / ZIS表现出最佳的光催化H ₂进化（PHE）活性，比纯ZIS高约3.7倍。此外，1％CFO / ZIS的表观量子产率（AQY）在420 nm时达到5.0％。另外，深入研究了各种牺牲试剂对PHE的影响。形成的pn结光催化反应路径有效地防止了ZIS的光腐蚀。因此，经过5个光催化循环，1％CFO / ZIS的光催化活性和晶体结构没有明显变化，表明该光催化剂具有优异的化学稳定性。此外，所制备的pn结对2-巯基苯并噻唑（MBT）的降解表现出出色的光催化性能。根据一系列实验和表征，提出了一种可能的CFO / ZIS pn结光催化机理。