Dual MOF-Derived MoS2/CdS Photocatalysts with Rich Sulfur Vacancies for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Cocatalyst plays an important role in efficient charge transfer and separation for photocatalysis. Herein, a MoS2/CdS photocatalyst with MoS2 as cocatalyst was designed by using Mo-MOF and Cd-MOF as precursors. Due to the existence of rich sulfur vacancies and 1T phase, MoS2 shows strong charge capture and transport ability. The photo-generated electrons on conduction band (CB) can be bound by the sulfur vacancy of CdS and effectively transported to MoS2 through the compact interface between the CdS nanoparticles and 2D large-scale MoS2. The optimal photocatalyst 1 %MoS2/CdS exhibited dramatically improved photocatalytic hydrogen production activity, which is 28 times that of pristine CdS and even about 2 times that of 1 %Pt/CdS with same loading amount of noble metal Pt. This work highlights the role of Mo-MOF derived MoS2 with 1T-2H phases as a sustainable and prospective candidate of cocatalyst for improving charge separation and photocatalytic stability of MoS2/CdS composites.

Automated summary

In this study, a MoS2/CdS photocatalyst with MoS2 as a cocatalyst was designed using Mo-MOF and Cd-MOF as precursors. The results showed that MoS2 exhibited strong charge capture and transport ability, allowing the photo-generated electrons to be effectively transported to MoS2 through the interface. The optimized photocatalyst 1%MoS2/CdS exhibited significantly improved photocatalytic hydrogen production activity.