Surface engineering of CdS with ternary Bi/Bi2MoO6-MoS2 heterojunctions for enhanced photoexcited charge separation in solar-driven hydrogen evolution reaction

Solar driven hydrogen (H-2) evolution reaction based on transition metal chalcogenides still suffers great challenges, which should realize strong visible light harvesting, photoinduced charge carriers generation and separation and the abundant reactive sites. Here, we report a proficient and scalable single-step growth of Bi/Bi2MoO6-MoS2 ternary heterojunctions on CdS nanorods using ethylene glycol mediated solvothermal growth for the first time and their application in solar energy conversion reactions. The obtained CdS-Bi/Bi2MoO6-MoS2 quaternary heteronanostructures resulted from the integration of multiple components into a single nanoarchitecture, which can precisely offer efficient charge carriers separation via different heterojunctions, enhanced visible light harvesting and suppressed electron-hole recombination. Thus, CdS-Bi/Bi2MoO6-MoS2 shows excellent H-2-evolution activity of 2185 mu mol/g/h, which is ten and fifteen times greater than CdS and Bi2MoO6 alone respectively. Moreover, CdS-Bi/Bi2MoO6-MoS2 photocatalyst displays good stability and recycle capability, demonstrating a promising photocatalyst for efficient H-2 evolution reactions.

Automated summary

A method of proficient and scalable single-step growth of Bi/Bi2MoO6-MoS2 ternary heterojunctions on CdS nanorods using ethylene glycol mediated solvothermal growth was reported for the first time, showing excellent H-2-evolution activity. The obtained CdS-Bi/Bi2MoO6-MoS2 quaternary heteronanostructures can efficiently separate charge carriers, enhance visible light harvesting, and suppress electron-hole recombination.