L-Cysteine capped Mo2C/Zn0.67Cd0.33S heterojunction with intimate covalent bonds enables efficient and stable H2-Releasing photocatalysis

ZnxCd1-xS is a prospective photocatalyst with wide visible-light absorption up to 500 nm, but its stability and activity are still facing huge challenges. Herein, L-Cysteine capped Mo2C (L-Mo2C) nanoplates were used to anchor Zn2+/Cd2+ to in-situ grow Zn0.67Cd0.33S nanomaterial for constructing a highly efficient and robust LMo2C/Zn0.67Cd0.33S heterojunction through intimate Mo-S covalent bonds for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). This work not only suppresses the photo-corrosion of Zn0.67Cd0.33S nanomaterial by the construction of strong L-Mo2C/Zn0.67Cd0.33S Schottky heterojunction but also greatly improves the charge transfer efficiency by generating a strong internal electric field. As a result, the optimized L-Mo2C/Zn0.67Cd0.33S-5 heterojunction exhibits an enhanced HER rate of 34.66 mmol h-1 g-1 without an obvious decrease for continuous 24 h under visible irradiation, which is 4.8 times and 1.23 times than that of pristine Zn0.67Cd0.33S and uncapped Mo2C/Zn0.67Cd0.33S-5. This research highlights the role of Mo2C in photocatalytic HER, which provides a novel method to suppress the photo-corrosion of Zn0.67Cd0.33S-based composite.

Automated summary

In this study, L-Cysteine capped Mo2C nanoplates were used to anchor Zn2+/Cd2+ to in-situ grow Zn0.67Cd0.33S nanomaterial for constructing a highly efficient and robust LMo2C/Zn0.67Cd0.33S heterojunction, which greatly improved the charge transfer efficiency and suppressed the photo-corrosion of Zn0.67Cd0.33S nanomaterial.