(Zn,Ni)(O,S)
nanoparticles were uniformly deposited on nanoporous
SiO2 spheres to form SiO2@(Zn,Ni)(O,S) nanocomposites
(NCs). To obtain optimum deposition of (Zn,Ni)(O,S) on the SiO2 spheres for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), different
amounts of 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 1.5 mmol zinc precursor for (Zn,Ni)(O,S)
were deposited on SiO2 to obtain different SiO2@(Zn,Ni)(O,S) NCs. All the as-prepared catalysts were examined with
X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron
microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible
diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy,
photocurrent response, photoluminescence spectral studies. Finally,
the HER performance was evaluated with SiO2@(Zn,Ni)(O,S).
The best SiO2@(Zn,Ni)(O,S)-0.5 surprisingly reached 41.1
mmol/gh for generating H2, which was about a 840% increase
as compared to that of the SiO2 sphere-free one. The great
improvement in the HER rate was due to the utilization of nanoporous
SiO2 spheres. The concept of stagnant capillarity water,
adopted from the leaf vein system, was applied to explain the enhanced
HER reaction.