In situ deposition of CdS on MoS2/rGO-based nanocomposites for highly efficient photocatalytic H2 evolution reaction with visible light

BACKGROUND The development of advanced and inexpensive photocatalytic systems exhibiting high efficiency is highly desired for hydrogen (H-2) production. In this work, a hydrothermal and in situ growth method was employed for the construction of CdS/MoS2/rGO nanocomposites by coupling MoS2/rGO with CdS to produce H-2. The stability and photocatalytic properties of the nanocomposites for H-2 evolution at different CdS content were investigated. RESULTS It was found that CdS/MoS2/rGO nanocomposites with 0.35 wt% CdS displayed the highest H-2 evolution rate of 11 331.65 mu mol h(-1) g(-1). This corresponded to the apparent quantum efficiency of 10.4% at 420 nm, which was approximately 46 times higher than that of pure CdS. The CdS/MoS2/rGO nanocomposites showed excellent stability in 6-run recycling experiments. Additionally, a plausible H-2 production mechanism was proposed. CONCLUSION The remarkable photocatalytic activity was attributed to the high electron-hole pair separation efficiency upon the introduction of MoS2/rGO. This work provides new insights for enhancing the photocatalytic H-2 evolution activity. (c) 2021 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).

Automated summary

The CdS/MoS2/rGO nanocomposites exhibited the highest H-2 evolution rate at 0.35 wt% CdS, with excellent stability in recycling experiments. The introduction of MoS2/rGO significantly improved the photocatalytic activity for H-2 evolution.