IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-025-62033-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Light-induced CoOX surface reconstruction in hollow heterostructure for durable photocatalytic seawater splitting

Author

Listed:
  • Chunyu Yuan

    (Qufu Normal University)

  • Hongfei Yin

    (Qufu Normal University
    Northwest Normal University)

  • Jing Li

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Yuxi Zhang

    (Northwest Normal University)

  • Hongji Chen

    (Qufu Normal University)

  • Dongdong Xiao

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Qizhao Wang

    (Northwest Normal University)

  • Yongzheng Zhang

    (Qufu Normal University
    Quantum Science Center of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area)

  • Qi-Kun Xue

    (Quantum Science Center of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area
    Southern University of Science and Technology)

Abstract

Photocorrosion triggered by the unconsumed photogenerated holes severely deteriorates the photocatalytic efficiency and stability of semiconductor photocatalysts, especially in seawater with complex ions. Here, we report a hierarchical hollow ZnIn2S4 heterostructure integrating an inner CoOx nanocage and atomically dispersed Pt anchoring at surface S vacancies for hydrogen evolution from natural seawater (23.88 mmol g−1 h−1) and pure water (48.99 mmol g−1 h−1) under visible light. The dynamic Co2+/Co3+ self-reconstruction of the inner CoOx cage effectively consumes photogenerated holes, while the outer Pt1 single atoms localized at S vacancies serve as electron sinks to facilitate electron extraction and proton reduction. Benefiting from the dynamic hole-scavenging mechanism via oxidation self-reconstruction, the Pt1-ZnIn2S4@CoOX photocatalyst exhibits enhanced durability against alkali metal ions in seawater and maintains high reactivity for long-term hydrogen evolution. This work underscores the importance of light-induced transition metal dynamic self-reconstruction within hierarchical hollow heterostructure photocatalysts for sustainable hydrogen evolution.

Suggested Citation

  • Chunyu Yuan & Hongfei Yin & Jing Li & Yuxi Zhang & Hongji Chen & Dongdong Xiao & Qizhao Wang & Yongzheng Zhang & Qi-Kun Xue, 2025. "Light-induced CoOX surface reconstruction in hollow heterostructure for durable photocatalytic seawater splitting," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-14, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-62033-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-62033-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-62033-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-025-62033-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christian M. Wolff & Peter D. Frischmann & Marcus Schulze & Bernhard J. Bohn & Robin Wein & Panajotis Livadas & Michael T. Carlson & Frank Jäckel & Jochen Feldmann & Frank Würthner & Jacek K. Stolarcz, 2018. "All-in-one visible-light-driven water splitting by combining nanoparticulate and molecular co-catalysts on CdS nanorods," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(10), pages 862-869, October.
    2. Ali Han & Xiaofeng Zhou & Xijun Wang & Sheng Liu & Qihua Xiong & Qinghua Zhang & Lin Gu & Zechao Zhuang & Wenjing Zhang & Fanxing Li & Dingsheng Wang & Lain-Jong Li & Yadong Li, 2021. "One-step synthesis of single-site vanadium substitution in 1T-WS2 monolayers for enhanced hydrogen evolution catalysis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Yao Chai & Yuehua Kong & Min Lin & Wei Lin & Jinni Shen & Jinlin Long & Rusheng Yuan & Wenxin Dai & Xuxu Wang & Zizhong Zhang, 2023. "Metal to non-metal sites of metallic sulfides switching products from CO to CH4 for photocatalytic CO2 reduction," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Jingrun Ran & Hongping Zhang & Sijia Fu & Mietek Jaroniec & Jieqiong Shan & Bingquan Xia & Yang Qu & Jiangtao Qu & Shuangming Chen & Li Song & Julie M. Cairney & Liqiang Jing & Shi-Zhang Qiao, 2022. "NiPS3 ultrathin nanosheets as versatile platform advancing highly active photocatalytic H2 production," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, December.
    5. Ling Zhou & Daying Guo & Lianhui Wu & Zhixi Guan & Chao Zou & Huile Jin & Guoyong Fang & Xi’an Chen & Shun Wang, 2024. "A restricted dynamic surface self-reconstruction toward high-performance of direct seawater oxidation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    6. Shengqiang Chen & Yanxia Zhu & Qingqing Xu & Qi Jiang & Danyang Chen & Ting Chen & Xishen Xu & Zhaokui Jin & Qianjun He, 2022. "Photocatalytic glucose depletion and hydrogen generation for diabetic wound healing," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    7. Yiming Zhu & Malte Klingenhof & Chenlong Gao & Toshinari Koketsu & Gregor Weiser & Yecan Pi & Shangheng Liu & Lijun Sui & Jingrong Hou & Jiayi Li & Haomin Jiang & Limin Xu & Wei-Hsiang Huang & Chih-We, 2024. "Facilitating alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction on the hetero-interfaced Ru/RuO2 through Pt single atoms doping," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    8. Xiaowei Shi & Chao Dai & Xin Wang & Jiayue Hu & Junying Zhang & Lingxia Zheng & Liang Mao & Huajun Zheng & Mingshan Zhu, 2022. "Protruding Pt single-sites on hexagonal ZnIn2S4 to accelerate photocatalytic hydrogen evolution," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    9. Feiyan Xu & Kai Meng & Bei Cheng & Shengyao Wang & Jingsan Xu & Jiaguo Yu, 2020. "Unique S-scheme heterojunctions in self-assembled TiO2/CsPbBr3 hybrids for CO2 photoreduction," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qitao Chen & Baodong Mao & Yanhong Liu & Yunjie Zhou & Hui Huang & Song Wang & Longhua Li & Wei-Cheng Yan & Weidong Shi & Zhenhui Kang, 2024. "Designing 2D carbon dot nanoreactors for alcohol oxidation coupled with hydrogen evolution," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Xin Wang & Boyan Liu & Siqing Ma & Yingjuan Zhang & Lianzhou Wang & Gangqiang Zhu & Wei Huang & Songcan Wang, 2024. "Induced dipole moments in amorphous ZnCdS catalysts facilitate photocatalytic H2 evolution," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Xu Xin & Youzi Zhang & Ruiling Wang & Yijin Wang & Peng Guo & Xuanhua Li, 2023. "Hydrovoltaic effect-enhanced photocatalysis by polyacrylic acid/cobaltous oxide–nitrogen doped carbon system for efficient photocatalytic water splitting," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    4. Yihua Zhang & Guyang Peng & Shuankui Li & Haijun Wu & Kaidong Chen & Jiandong Wang & Zhihao Zhao & Tu Lyu & Yuan Yu & Chaohua Zhang & Yang Zhang & Chuansheng Ma & Shengwu Guo & Xiangdong Ding & Jun Su, 2024. "Phase interface engineering enables state-of-the-art half-Heusler thermoelectrics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Zhaokui Jin & Lingdong Jiang & Qianjun He, 2024. "Critical learning from industrial catalysis for nanocatalytic medicine," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    6. Li Zhai & Sara T. Gebre & Bo Chen & Dan Xu & Junze Chen & Zijian Li & Yawei Liu & Hua Yang & Chongyi Ling & Yiyao Ge & Wei Zhai & Changsheng Chen & Lu Ma & Qinghua Zhang & Xuefei Li & Yujie Yan & Xiny, 2023. "Epitaxial growth of highly symmetrical branched noble metal-semiconductor heterostructures with efficient plasmon-induced hot-electron transfer," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    7. Guo, Liejin & Chen, Yubin & Su, Jinzhan & Liu, Maochang & Liu, Ya, 2019. "Obstacles of solar-powered photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production: A perspective from energy flow and mass flow," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 1079-1086.
    8. Lin Chen & Chang Yu & Xuedan Song & Junting Dong & Jiawei Mu & Jieshan Qiu, 2024. "Integrated electrochemical and chemical system for ampere-level production of terephthalic acid alternatives and hydrogen," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    9. Shengyao Wang & Bo Jiang & Joel Henzie & Feiyan Xu & Chengyuan Liu & Xianguang Meng & Sirong Zou & Hui Song & Yang Pan & Hexing Li & Jiaguo Yu & Hao Chen & Jinhua Ye, 2023. "Designing reliable and accurate isotope-tracer experiments for CO2 photoreduction," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    10. Jiayi Tang & Daqin Guan & Hengyue Xu & Leqi Zhao & Ushtar Arshad & Zijun Fang & Tianjiu Zhu & Manjin Kim & Chi-Wen Pao & Zhiwei Hu & Junjie Ge & Zongping Shao, 2025. "Undoped ruthenium oxide as a stable catalyst for the acidic oxygen evolution reaction," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-10, December.
    11. Chengxin Zhou & Jian Gao & Yunlong Deng & Ming Wang & Dan Li & Chuan Xia, 2023. "Electric double layer-mediated polarization field for optimizing photogenerated carrier dynamics and thermodynamics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    12. Xianjin Shi & Wei Peng & Yu Huang & Chao Gao & Yiman Fu & Zhenyu Wang & Leting Yang & Zixuan Zhu & Junji Cao & Fei Rao & Gangqiang Zhu & Shuncheng Lee & Yujie Xiong, 2024. "Integrable utilization of intermittent sunlight and residual heat for on-demand CO2 conversion with water," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    13. Choon, S.L. & Lim, H.N. & Ibrahim, I. & Zainal, Z. & Tan, K.B. & Foo, C.Y. & Ng, C.H., 2023. "New potential materials in advancement of photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications: Metal halide perovskite nanorods," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    14. John C. Thomas & Wei Chen & Yihuang Xiong & Bradford A. Barker & Junze Zhou & Weiru Chen & Antonio Rossi & Nolan Kelly & Zhuohang Yu & Da Zhou & Shalini Kumari & Edward S. Barnard & Joshua A. Robinson, 2024. "A substitutional quantum defect in WS2 discovered by high-throughput computational screening and fabricated by site-selective STM manipulation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    15. Wang, Hui & Du, Xiaoqiang & Zhang, Xiaoshuang, 2025. "Transition metal-based selenide materials derived from ZIF-67 as efficient urea and seawater splitting electrocatalyst," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    16. Xinfeng Chen & Chengdong Peng & Wenyan Dan & Long Yu & Yinan Wu & Honghan Fei, 2022. "Bromo- and iodo-bridged building units in metal-organic frameworks for enhanced carrier transport and CO2 photoreduction by water vapor," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-14, December.
    17. Xichen Sun & Pengqi Zhu & Liuyan Tang & Pengfei Wang & Ningning Li & Qing Wang & Yan-Ru Lou & Yuezhou Zhang & Peng Li, 2025. "Cu single-atom embedded g-C3N4 nanosheets rehabilitate multidrug-resistant bacteria infected diabetic wounds via photoswitchable cascade reaction," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-15, December.
    18. Yufu Tang & Yuanyuan Li & Bowen Li & Wentao Song & Guobin Qi & Jianwu Tian & Wei Huang & Quli Fan & Bin Liu, 2024. "Oxygen-independent organic photosensitizer with ultralow-power NIR photoexcitation for tumor-specific photodynamic therapy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    19. Kenichi Endo & Masaki Saruyama & Toshiharu Teranishi, 2023. "Location-selective immobilisation of single-atom catalysts on the surface or within the interior of ionic nanocrystals using coordination chemistry," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    20. Ting He & Wenlong Zhen & Yongzhi Chen & Yuanyuan Guo & Zhuoer Li & Ning Huang & Zhongping Li & Ruoyang Liu & Yuan Liu & Xu Lian & Can Xue & Tze Chien Sum & Wei Chen & Donglin Jiang, 2023. "Integrated interfacial design of covalent organic framework photocatalysts to promote hydrogen evolution from water," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-62033-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.