1T-phase MoS2/holey ultrathin g-C3N4 nanosheets based 2D/2D heterostructure for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production

Although graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is widely used for photocatalytic hydrogen production, its practical application is restricted by the high recombination rate of photoinduced electron-hole pairs and limited active sites. In this work, holey ultrathin g-C3N4 nanosheets (HCN NSs) with rich active sites are prepared, followed by the growth of 1T-MoS2 NSs on their surfaces to construct 2D/2D 1T-MoS2/HCN heterostructure. Due to the high surface area and abundant hydrogen active sites of the hybrid, large and intimate 2D nanointerface between MoS2 and HCN, hydrogen ion adsorption and charge separation/ transport ability are greatly enhanced. As a result, 1T-MoS2/HCN-4 with the optimal 1T-MoS2 content of 8 wt% displays the highest H2 production rate of 2724.2 mmol-1 h-1 g-1 under simulated solar light illumination with apparent quantum efficiency of 8.1% (l = 370 nm). Moreover, the 1T-MoS2/HCN-4 hybrid manifests improved stability after a long-time test. This study opens the door to design highly-efficient g-C3N4 based 2D/2D heterostructures for photocatalytic H2 production.(c) 2022 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this work, holey ultrathin g-C3N4 nanosheets (HCN NSs) with rich active sites were prepared, followed by the growth of 1T-MoS2 NSs on their surfaces to construct 2D/2D 1T-MoS2/HCN heterostructure. The hybrid with 8 wt% 1T-MoS2 content (1T-MoS2/HCN-4) exhibited the highest H2 production rate of 2724.2 mmol-1 h-1 g-1 under simulated solar light illumination with an apparent quantum efficiency of 8.1% (l=370 nm). Moreover, the 1T-MoS2/HCN-4 hybrid showed improved stability after a long-time test. This study paves the way for the design of highly-efficient g-C3N4 based 2D/2D heterostructures for photocatalytic H2 production.