Mo2C as Non-Noble Metal Co-Catalyst in Mo2C/CdS Composite for Enhanced Photocatalytic H2 Evolution under Visible Light Irradiation

Co-catalysts are a major factor to enhance photocatalytic H-2 activity; they are mainly composed of expensive noble metals. Here, we reported a new non-noble-metal co-catalyst Mo2C that efficiently improves the photocatalytic H-2 evolution of CdS under visible light irradiation. Mo2C is prepared by temperature-programmed reaction with molybdenum oxide as precursor, and the Mo2C/CdS composite is prepared by deposition of CdS on Mo2C. The optimum composite 2.0% Mo2C/CdS shows a high H-2 evolution rate of 161 mu mol h(-1), which is tentimes higher than that of CdS alone and 2.3 times higher than the optimum for 1.0% Pt/CdS. Moreover, the Mo2C/CdS is stable for 50 h. This study presents a new low-cost non-noble-metal co-catalyst as a photocatalyst to achieve highly efficient H-2 evolution.