Positioning hydrogen reaction sites by constructing CdS/CoNiMoS4 heterojunctions for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

The high gravimetric energy density of hydrogen makes it an ideal chemical fuel to address the issues of fossil fuel depletion and environmental pollution. Even though transition metal sulfides (TMSs) have been extensively investigated as substitutes for noble metals, their effectiveness is still doubtful for practical applications. Herein, we introduce a facile and general strategy to fabricate heterojunctions with CdS nanorods and a multimetallic transition metal sulfide (CoNiMoS4) for enhanced photocatalytic activity. The CdS/CoNiMoS4 heterojunction will serve as a dual-function photocatalyst with enhanced visible light absorption capability offered by CdS and high charge transfer efficiency provided by CoNiMoS4 nanostructures. Moreover, CdS/CoNiMoS4 nanostructures exhibit the best photocatalytic performance to generate H2 with an amount of 31.9 mmol g-1 h-1, with a distinguished stability for over 25 h. This synthetic approach may offer a new strategy to create diverse heterojunctions with Earth-abundant multimetallic components, which may broaden their scope of application in catalysis.

Effective tailoring of the MoS2 layer number on the surface of CdS nanorods for boosting hydrogen production rate.

Hydrogen fuel plays a ubiquitous role in empowering the sustainable green energy economy. As an eco-friendly production method for hydrogen, photo-assisted water splitting is accepted to be the most reliable. However, the fabrication of stable and efficient photocatalysts is challenging. To overcome this difficulty, here we present a novel and inexpensive oxidant-promoted ultrasonic-assisted liquid phase layer exfoliation technique to fabricate a CdS/H-MoS2 nano hybrid. The newly fabricated CdS/H-MoS2 shows a hydrogen evolution rate of 162.4 mmol g-1h-1, which is 16 times higher compared to that of CdS/Pt and 67 times higher compared to that of bare CdS. Theoretical results clearly demonstrate a built-in electrostatic potential in the heterostructure junction, and that a shift in water reduction potential plays a key role in the enhancement of hydrogen production rate. We believe that the proposed experimental strategies and theoretical studies will open up a new avenue to develop new photocatalysts with high hydrogen evolution efficiency.

Regulating the charge carrier transport rate via bridging ternary heterojunctions to enable CdS nanorods' solar-driven hydrogen evolution.

Solar-driven hydrogen generation using single-semiconductor photocatalysts for hydrogen evolution seems to be challenging due to their poor solar to fuel conversion efficiency because of their fast charge carrier recombination. The ternary heterostructure was prepared by an advanced approach to suppress the recombination of photogenerated charge carriers and has contributed a new platform for designing highly efficient photocatalytic systems. Herein, we fabricated a ternary heterojunction with ultrathin WS2-SnS2 nanosheets and CdS nanorods, and the photocatalytic activity was studied. The optimized CdS/SnS2-WS2 (6 wt%) nanostructures were found to be highly stable and exhibited the highest hydrogen evolution rate of 232.45 mmol g-1 h-1, which was almost 93-fold higher than that of the pristine CdS nanorods. Also, Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations confirmed that the favorable band alignment for charge transport and superior catalytic activity of the newly fabricated ternary nanostructures make them a potential candidate for solar-driven hydrogen production.

Impact of the number of surface-attached tungsten diselenide layers on cadmium sulfide nanorods on the charge transfer and photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate.

The selection of layered number and time-course destruction of layers may affect the charge transfer between 2D-to-1D heterostructure, making it possible to improve the efficiency of solar-to-hydrogen evolution. Herein, we demonstrate a simple, low-cost systematic protocol of 2D-WSe2 nanolayer numbers ranging from 7 to 60 aiding the ultrasonication time-course. The resultant nanolayers were assembled on the surface of 1D-CdS nanorods, which demonstrated an improved surface shuttling property. Consequently, a drastic improvement in photocatalytic solar-driven hydrogen evolution was observed (103.5 mmol h-1 g-1) with seven-layered WSe2 (few-layered WSe2) attached on CdS nanorods surface. This enhanced photocatalytic performance is attributed to the selection of layers on CdS surface that expose abundant active sites; along with suitable energy levels, this can facilitate increased charge transfer leading to feasible photocatalytic reactions. Significantly, the present study proposes an efficient and sustainable process to produce hydrogen and demonstrates the potential of numbered WSe2 nanosheets as a co-catalyst material.

Hierarchical BiOI nanostructures supported on a metal organic framework as efficient photocatalysts for degradation of organic pollutants in water.

Semiconductor-based photocatalysis is a green method for the removal of toxic organic pollutants by decomposition into harmless products. However, traditional single-component semiconductors are unable to reach high degradation efficiencies due to excessive photo charge carrier recombination. The use of hybrid nanocomposite photocatalysts is a promising strategy for overcoming this problem by reducing recombination as well as ensuring that large amounts of solar energy are harvested. Herein, a novel visible-light-active hybrid nanocomposite, BiOI/MIL-88B(Fe), was successfully synthesized through a simple precipitation method. In the BiOI/MIL-88B(Fe) composite, both BiOI and MIL-88B(Fe) have improved charge carrier separation and reduced recombination via a simple Z-scheme mechanism. Photocatalytic degradation of the pollutant RhB was carried out during irradiation of the as-synthesized composites with simulated solar light, and the BiOI/MIL-88B(Fe) (2 wt%) composite was found to exhibit the highest photocatalytic activity among the composites. In addition, colorless phenol and ciprofloxacin (CIP) degradation experiments were also performed to confirm the visible light photocatalytic performance of the BiOI/MIL-88B(Fe) hybrid nanocomposite. Scavenger experiments, PL analysis, NBT transformations, and TA-PL experiments all supported the proposed Z-scheme mechanism of the BiOI/MIL-88B(Fe) composite photocatalyst. Moreover, simple separation from solution provides this 3D composite with good reusability and long-term stability.

Magnetic core-shell ZnFe2O4/ZnS nanocomposites for photocatalytic application under visible light.

Magnetic core-shell ZnFe2O4/ZnS composites were synthesized through a two-step chemical process including the hydrothermal and the co-precipitation methods. The structural characterization revealed that the composites consisted of a layer of ZnS clusters on the surface of ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles. The band gap energy of the composite was estimated to be 2.2eV through the Kubelka-Munk plot, implying the possible application as a photocatalyst under the visible light radiation. The improved photocatalytic efficiency of the ZnFe2O4/ZnS composites was confirmed through the photocatalytic degradation of Methyl Orange. The increased absorption of the visible light and the enhanced separation of the electron-hole pairs due to the relative energy band positions in ZnFe2O4 and ZnS are considered as the main advantages. Additionally, the moderate magnetization of the ZnFe2O4 core insured the easy magnetic collection of the composite materials without affecting the photocatalytic performance. Our results showed that ZnFe2O4-based nanocomposites could be used as an effective and magnetic retrievable photocatalyst.

An oxygen-vacancy rich 3D novel hierarchical MoS2/BiOI/AgI ternary nanocomposite: enhanced photocatalytic activity through photogenerated electron shuttling in a Z-scheme manner.

An oxygen-vacancy rich, bismuth oxyiodide-based Z-scheme 3D hierarchical MoS2/BiOI/AgI ternary nanocomposite photocatalyst was fabricated using a simple precipitation process in ethylene glycol and water. The presence of oxygen-vacancies in BiOI and the two-dimensional nature of molybdenum disulfides in the composite prolongs the charge carrier lifetime through a Z-scheme system and enhances the performance of the photocatalyst for the degradation of rhodamine B. On the basis of efficient separation of photoexcited electron-hole pairs, a mechanism is proposed whereby MoS2 and oxygen vacancy states increase charge carrier lifetimes and improve the photocatalytic activity. The Z-scheme mechanism of the photocatalysis is consistent with the results of static and time-resolved photoluminescence, scavenging, and terephthalic acid photoluminescence experiments. Among the as-synthesized photocatalysts, the one containing 2 wt% of MoS2 in a composite of MoS2/BiOI/AgI exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity towards rhodamine B degradation, and its activity was 7 and 16 times higher than that of BiOI/AgI and BiOI, respectively. Degradation of phenol, the colorless model pollutant, was studied to confirm the visible-light photocatalytic performance of the MoS2/BiOI/AgI composite. This easily fabricated Z-scheme based MoS2/BiOI/AgI composite exhibits promising photocatalytic activity and will be useful for potential applications in energy and environmental areas.