Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water based on Zn–terpyridine 2D coordination nanosheets

Green hydrogen is an ideal and zero-pollution fuel that can be obtained using solar and other renewable energies. The efficient photocatalytic production of hydrogen mainly relies on the development of high-performance photocatalysts. In this work, we report the synthesis and photocatalytic hydrogen evolution application of a 2D coordination nanosheet (CONASH) constructed from bis-terpyridine ligands (Tpy) and Zn ions, which revealed an optical bandgap of 1.70 eV and exhibited excellent photocatalytic hydrogen-production performances of 3.10 mmol h−1 g−1 and 11.84 mmol g−1 h−1 under N2 and CO2 atmospheres, respectively. Such high photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rates are among the top tier in noble metal-free coordination complexes, providing a new way for designing hydrogen evolution photocatalysts based on highly structure- and band-adjustable 2D CONASHs.