Due to the quite sluggish charge-carrier separation in semiconductor photocatalysts,the photocatalytic ac-tivity of these materials is still far inferior than anticipated.Herein,a novel approach to reducing the packing factor(PF)of ZnIn2S4 semiconductors to improve the charge-carrier separation is offered.The well-crystallized Zn1-xIn2S4-x(x=0,0.05,0.1)powders were productively prepared through solid-state reactions.Their structures were verified by the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy,powder X-ray diffraction,and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.The PF values of Zn1-xIn2S4-x(x=0,0.05,0.1)samples were calculated to be 0.683,0.651,and 0.618,respectively.The reduction of the PF for Zn1-xIn2S4-x with increasing x can promote the separation of photoexcited carriers,and this process was endorsed by their photoelectric response and photoluminescence emission spectra.The Zn0.9In2S3.9 sample with a lower PF value presents roughly 21 times higher photocurrent density and four times higher photodegrading rate of methyl orange than those of pristine ZnIn2S4.