Construction of Cu2MoS4/ZnO Heterostructures and Mechanism of Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production

Yanli Zhuang; Hao Cheng; Shuo Tian; Yancheng Hao; Jikun Pan; Zihuan Zhang; Dan Li; Limin Dong; Jian Li; You Li; Xinxin Jin

doi:10.1021/acs.langmuir.4c04325

Construction of Cu₂MoS₄/ZnO Heterostructures and Mechanism of Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production

Langmuir. 2025 Jan 14. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.4c04325. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yanli Zhuang¹, Hao Cheng¹, Shuo Tian¹, Yancheng Hao¹, Jikun Pan¹, Zihuan Zhang¹, Dan Li¹, Limin Dong¹, Jian Li¹, You Li², Xinxin Jin¹

Affiliations

¹ Heilongjiang Provincial Key Laboratory of CO2 Resource Utilization and Energy Catalytic Materials, School of Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150040, China.
² Guangxi Key Laboratory of Optical and Electronic Materials and Devices, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China.

PMID: 39808519
DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.4c04325

Abstract

Constructing wide and narrow band gap heterogeneous semiconductors is a method to improve the activity of photocatalysts. In this paper, CMS/ZnO heterojunctions were prepared by solvothermal loading of ZnO particles on the surface of Cu₂MoS₄ nanosheets. The photocatalytic H₂ precipitation rate is about 545 μmol·g^-1·h^-1, which is 6.8 times that of Cu₂MoS₄ and 3 times that of ZnO without any cocatalyst. After etching modification of CMS, the photocatalytic hydrogen production efficiency of the ECMS/ZnO heterojunction is further improved. Its hydrogen production efficiency reaches about 1115 μmol·g^-1·h^-1, which is 9 times that of ECMS and 6 times that of ZnO. The reasons are mainly attributed to the following two factors: (1) the formation of the ECMS/ZnO type-II-type heterojunction facilitates the effective separation of photogenerated electrons and holes; (2) the band structure of Cu₂MoS₄ was optimized by etching modification, which made the ECMS/ZnO heterojunction have lower interfacial charge transfer resistance and improved the photocatalytic hydrogen production activity of the heterojunction.