Exploiting photocatalysts respond to visible light is of huge challenge for photocatalytic H2 production. Here, we synthesize a new composite material consisting of few-layer MoS2 nanosheets grown on CuInS2 surface as an efficient photocatalyst for solar H2 generation. The photocatalytic results demonstrate that the 3 wt % MoS2 /CuInS2 photocatalyst exhibits the highest H2 generation rate of 316 μmol h(-1) g(-1) under visible light irradiation, which is almost 28 times higher than that of CuInS2 . Importantly, the MoS2 /CuInS2 photocatalyst shows a much higher photocatalytic activity than that of Pt-loaded CuInS2 photocatalyst. The enhanced photocatalytic activities of MoS2 /CuInS2 photocatalysts can be attributed to the improved charge separation at the interface of MoS2 and CuInS2, which is demonstrated by the significant enhancement of photocurrent responses in MoS2 /CuInS2 photoelectrodes. This work presents a noble-metal-free photocatalyst that responds to visible light for solar H2 generation.
Keywords: noble-metal-free; photocatalyst; solar hydrogen generation; visible-light; water splitting.
© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.