Noble metal-free ultrathin MoS2 nanosheet-decorated CdS nanorods as an efficient photocatalyst for spectacular hydrogen evolution under solar light irradiation

Abstract

Development of noble metal free, novel and highly efficient co-catalysts that favor high performance is of great significance towards elevated photocatalytic hydrogen production. The present existing technology for photocatalytic water splitting primarily involves the use of noble metals, such as Pt, as co-catalysts on semiconductor materials, resulting in significantly improved photocatalytic H-2 production. However, because of the high cost and tow abundance of Pt, its practical use is limited. In this study, we synthesized noble metal free, novel and highly efficient ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets-decorated CdS nanorods (UM/CdS) as a photocatalyst. We used a different and simple method instead of the usual preparation techniques for conversion of MoS2 to ultrathin MoS2; i.e. an ultrasonic method. Under optimized experimental conditions, the synthesized UM/CdS material exhibits an amazingly high rate of H-2 production of up to 174 mmol h(-1) g(-1) under natural solar tight irradiation. The ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets effectively separate the photo-generated charge carriers and improve the surface shuttling properties for efficient H-2 production via the active edge sites. Furthermore, the present H-2 evolution rate is much higher than that of noble metal (Pt) and bulk MoS2-assisted CdS photocatalysts individually. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, this is the highest H-2 production rate achieved by MoS2-based CdS photocatalyst through the splitting of water under solar light irradiation. Considering its tow cost and high efficiency, this photocatalytic system would have great potential for the expansion of highly efficient photocatalytic materials used in various fields.