Real Active Site Identification of Co/Co3O4 Anchoring Ni-MOF Nanosheets with Fast OER Kinetics for Overall Water Splitting.

Doping metals and constructing heterostructures are pivotal strategies to enhance the electrocatalytic activity of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Nevertheless, effectively designing MOF-based catalysts that incorporate both doping and multiphase interfaces poses a significant challenge. In this study, a one-step Co-doped and Co3O4-modified Ni-MOF catalyst (named Ni NDC-Co/CP) with a thickness of approximately 5.0 nm was synthesized by a solvothermal-assisted etching growth strategy. Studies indicate that the formation of the Co-O-Ni-O-Co bond in Ni NDC-Co/CP was found to facilitate charge density redistribution more effectively than the Co-O-Ni bimetallic synergistic effect in NiCo NDC/CP. The designating Ni NDC-Co/CP achieved superior oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity (245 mV @ 10 mA cm-2) and robust long stability (100 h @ 100 mA cm-2) in 1.0 M KOH. Furthermore, the Ni NDC-Co/CP(+)||Pt/C/CP(-) displays pregnant overall water splitting performance, achieving a current density of 10 mA cm-2 at an ultralow voltage of 1.52 V, which is significantly lower than that of commercial electrolyzer using Pt/C and IrO2 electrode materials. In situ Raman spectroscopy elucidated the transformation of Ni NDC-Co to Ni(Co)OOH under an electric field. This study introduces a novel approach for the rational design of MOF-based OER electrocatalysts.

Self-etching assembly of designed NiFeMOF nanosheet arrays as high-efficient oxygen evolution electrocatalyst for water splitting.

2D metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as potential candidates for electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reactions (OER) due to their inherent properties like abundant coordination unsaturated active sites and efficient charge transfer. Herein, a versatile and massively synthesizable self-etching assembly strategy wherein nickel-iron foam (NFF) acts as a substrate and a metal ion source. Specifically, by etching the nickel-iron foam (NFF) surface using ligands and solvents, Ni/Fe metal ions are activated and subsequently reacted under hydrothermal conditions, resulting in the formation of self-supporting nanosheet arrays, eliminating the need for external metal salts. The obtained 33 % NiFeMOF/NFF exhibits remarkable OER performance with ultra-low overpotentials of 188/231 mV at 10/100 mA cm-2 , respectively, outperforming most recently reported catalysts. Besides, the built 33 % NiFeMOF/NFF(+) ||Pt/C(-) electrolyzer presents low cell voltages of 1.55/1.83 V at 10/100 mA cm-2 , superior to the benchmark RuO2 (+) ||Pt/C(-) , implying good industrialization prospects. The excellent catalytic activity stems from the modulation of the electronic spin state of the Ni active site by the introduction of Fe, which facilitates the adsorption process of oxygen-containing intermediates and thus enhances the OER activity. This innovative approach offers a promising pathway for commercial-scale sustainable energy solutions.

Oxalic Acid-Assisted Vacancy Engineering Promotes Iron-Copper Sulfide Nanosheets for High-Current Density Water Oxidation.

The effective defect and interface coupling are pivotal for the promotion of the catalytic activity for the oxygen evolution reaction. Herein, we report novel hybrid nanosheets with sulfur vacancies composed of FeS2 and Cu39S28 grown on Cu foam (Vs-FeS2/Cu39S28). The optimal Vs-FeS2/Cu39S28 exhibits a high current output of 500 mA cm-2 at a low overpotential of 370 mV and robust stability for 60 h at 100 mA cm-2, surpassing the values of most previously reported Cu-based catalysts. Furthermore, a two-electrode electrolyzer made by pairing the prepared catalyst with commercial Pt/C requires a low cell voltage of 1.75 V at 100 mA cm-2 and is retained over 80 h. Key to its excellent performance is the synergism between intertwined FeS2 and Cu39S28 domains, enriched by the deliberate introduction of sulfur vacancies, thus optimizing the electronic structure and causing the proliferation of catalytic active sites. This work presents a potent Cu-based electrocatalyst and emphasizes the leveraging of non-precious metals for efficient water oxidation.

Highly Active and Robust Catalyst: Co2B-Fe2B Heterostructural Nanosheets with Abundant Defects for Hydrogen Production.

A high-performance and reusable nonnoble metal catalyst for catalyzing sodium borohydride (NaBH4) hydrolysis to generate H2 is heralded as a nuclear material for the fast-growing hydrogen economy. Boron vacancy serves as a flexible defect site that can effectively regulate the catalytic hydrolysis performance. Herein, we construct a uniformly dispersed and boron vacancy-rich nonnoble metal Co2B-Fe2B catalyst via the hard template method. The optimized Co2B-Fe2B exhibits superior performance toward NaBH4 hydrolysis, with a high hydrogen generation rate (5315.8 mL min-1 gcatalyst-1), relatively low activation energy (35.4 kJ mol-1), and remarkable cycling stability, outperforming the majority of reported catalysts. Studies have shown that electron transfer from Fe2B to Co2B, as well as abundant boron defects, can effectively modulate the charge carrier concentration of Co2B-Fe2B catalysts. Density functional theory calculations confirm that the outer electron cloud density of Co2B is higher than that of Fe2B, among which Co2B with high electron cloud density can selectively adsorb BH4- ions, while the electron-deficient Fe2B is favorable for capturing H2O molecules, therefore synergistically promoting the catalytic NaBH4 hydrolysis to produce H2.

Precise Anchoring of Fe Sites by Regulating Crystallinity of Novel Binuclear Ni-MOF for Revealing Mechanism of Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution.

Bimetallic metal-organic framework (BMOF) exhibits better electrocatalytic performance than mono-MOF, but deciphering the precise anchoring of foreign atoms and revealing the underlying mechanisms at the atomic level remains a major challenge. Herein, a novel binuclear NiFe-MOF with precise anchoring of Fe sites is synthesized. The low-crystallinity (LC)-NiFe0.33 -MOF exhibited abundant unsaturated active sites and demonstrated excellent electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance. It achieved an ultralow overpotential of 230 mV at 10 mA cm-2 and a Tafel slope of 41 mV dec-1 . Using a combination of modulating crystallinity, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and theoretical calculations, the accurate metal sequence of BMOF and the synergistic effect of the active sites are identified, revealing that the adjacent active site plays a significant role in regulating the catalytic performance of the endmost active site. The proposed model of BMOF electrocatalysts facilitates the investigation of efficient OER electrocatalysts and the related catalytic mechanisms.

Oxygen vacancy engineering of mesoporous Bi-Fe2O3@NC multi-channel microspheres for remarkable oxygen reduction and aqueous/flexible Zn-air batteries.

Designing multi-channel mesoporous structure and introducing oxygen vacancies to synergistically enhance oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity is crucial for the practical application of zinc-air batteries (ZABs) in the field of energy storage and conversion. Herein, a novel multi-channel mesoporous Bi-Fe2O3 microsphere with abundant oxygen vacancies supported on nitrogen-doped carbon (denoted as Bi-Fe2O3@NC) is constructed and the designated catalyst demonstrates a higher half-wave potential (0.88 V), large limiting current density (5.8 mA cm-2@0.4 V), and superior stability. Besides, the aqueous ZAB utilizing Bi-Fe2O3@NC cathode achieves a high power density of 198.6 mW cm-2 and maintains exceptional stability for 459 h at 5 mA cm-2, superior to most previously reported catalysts. Furthermore, a solid-state ZAB assembled with Bi-Fe2O3@NC shows a power density of 55.9 mW cm-2, highlighting its potential for flexible ZAB applications. The prominent ORR performance of Bi-Fe2O3@NC can be ascribed to its unique multi-channel mesoporous structure and abundant oxygen vacancies, which increase the exposure of active sites and facilitate efficient electron/mass transport. This work provides valuable insights for the rational design of advanced ORR catalysts for the practical requirements of aqueous/flexible ZABs in energy storage and conversion.

Synergistic Regulation of Pt Clusters on Porous Support by Mo and P for Robust Bifunctional Hydrogen Electrocatalysis.

Developing efficient electrocatalysts toward hydrogen oxidation and evolution reactions (HER/HOR) in alkaline electrolytes is essential for realizing renewable hydrogen technologies. Herein, we demonstrate that the introduction of dual-active species such as Mo and P (Pt/Mo,P@NC) can effectively regulate the surface electronic structure of platinum (Pt) and significantly improve the HOR/HER performance. The optimized Pt/Mo,P@NC exhibits remarkable catalytic activity, achieving a normalized exchange current density of 2.89 mA cm-2 and a mass activity of 2.3 mA µgPt-1, which are approximately 2.2 and 13.5 times higher than those of the state-of-the-art Pt/C catalyst, respectively. Moreover, it performs an impressive HER performance with an overpotential of 23.4 mV at 10 mA cm-2, which is lower than most documented alkaline electrocatalysts. Experimental results reveal that the modifying effect of Mo and P optimizes the adsorption of H and OH on Pt/Mo,P@NC, resulting in an outstanding catalytic performance. This work has significant theoretical and practical significance for developing a novel and highly efficient catalyst for bifunctional hydrogen electrocatalysis.

Conductivity-enhanced porous N/P co-doped metal-free carbon significantly enhances oxygen reduction kinetics for aqueous/flexible zinc-air batteries.

Heteroatom-doped metal-free carbon catalysts for oxygen reduction reactions have gained significant attention because of their unusual activity and economic cost. Here, a novel N/P co-doped porous carbon catalyst (NPPC) with a high surface area for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is constructed by a facile high-temperature calcination method employing ZIF-8 as the precursor and red phosphorus as the phosphorus source. In particular, ZIF-8 is firstly calcined to obtain N-doped carbon (NC) followed by further calcination with red phosphorus to obtain NPPC. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) analysis shows that the ultra-low amount of P doping could significantly decrease the work function from 4.32 to 3.86 eV. The resultant catalyst exhibits a promising electrocatalytic activity with a half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.87 V and a limiting current density (JL) of 5.15 mA cm-2. Besides, it also shows improved catalytic efficiency and excellent durability with a negligible decay of JL after 2000 CV cycles. Moreover, aqueous and solid-state flexible zinc-air batteries (ZAB) using the catalyst show a promising application potential. This work provides new insight into developing P/N-doped metal-free carbon ORR catalysts.

Bifunctional Ru-Cluster-Decorated Co3 B-Co(OH)2 Hybrid Catalyst Synergistically Promotes NaBH4 Hydrolysis and Water Splitting.

Developing a highly efficient bifunctional catalyst for hydrolysis of metal hydrides and spontaneous hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is essential for substituting conventional fuels for H2 production. Herein, Ru-cluster-modified Co3 B-Co(OH)2 supported on nickel foam (Ru/Co3 B-Co(OH)2 @NF) is constructed by electroless deposition, calcination and chemical reduction. The catalyst exhibits an excellent hydrogen generation rate (HGR) of 4989 mL min-1 g c a t a l y s t - 1 ${{{\rm g}}_{catalyst}^{-1}}$ and good reusability, superior to most previously reported catalysts. Besides, Ru/Co3 B-Co(OH)2 @NF displays a prominent hydrogen evolution reaction catalytic capability with a low overpotential of 153.0 mV at 100 mA cm-2 (50.5 mV at 10 mA cm-2 ), a small Tafel slope of 40.0 mV dec-1 and long-term stability (100 h@10 mA cm-2 ) in 1.0 M KOH. The excellent catalytic H2 generation capacity benefits from the rapid charge transfer promoted by metallic Co3 B, the synergistic catalytic effect of Co3 B-Co(OH)2 and Ru clusters, and the unique composite structure favorable for solute transport and gas emission.

Fine-tune d-band center of cobalt vanadium oxide nanosheets by N-doping as a robust overall water splitting electrocatalyst.

Developing high-activity, long-durability, and noble metal-free oxygen evolution (OER) and hydrogen evolution (HER) cocatalysts are the bottlenecks for efficient overall water splitting (OWS). Here, novel cobalt vanadium oxides doped by nitrogen were synthesized by nitriding Co2V2O7@NF precursor at 300-450 °C for OER and HER reactions. N-Co2V2O7@NF (350 °C) and N-Co2VO4/VO2@NF (400 °C) show remarkable OER and HER performance with overpotentials of 310 mV and 224 mV at high current density (100 mA cm-2). Besides, they also revealed long-term solid stability even after 170 h and 700 h of continuous performance. Furthermore, the N-Co2V2O7@NF(+)||N-Co2VO4/VO2@NF(-) OWS device possesses a cell voltage of 1.93 V at 500 mA cm-2 better than RuO2@NF(+)||Pt/C@NF(-) (2.02 V) and can operate for 60 h with almost no degradation. This extraordinary performance can be attributed to the nanosheet structure, which can maximize the exposure of active sites and accelerate the mass transfer. Moreover, density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that N-doping can fine-tune the d-band center and band gap to facilitate intermediate adsorption and electron motion. The method presented here can be applied in other novel N-doped electrocatalysts for the energy field.

Improving the Electrocatalytic Activity of a Nickel-Organic Framework toward the Oxygen Evolution Reaction through Vanadium Doping.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been considered as potential oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts owning to their ultra-thin structure, adjustable composition, high surface area, and high porosity. Here, we designed and fabricated a vanadium-doped nickel organic framework (V1-x -Nix MOF) system by using a facile two-step solvothermal method on nickel foam (NF). The doping of vanadium remarkably elevates the OER activity of V1-x -Nix MOF, thus demonstrating better performance than the corresponding single metallic Ni-MOF, NiV-MOF and RuO2 catalysts at high current density (>400 mA cm-2 ). V0.09 -Ni0.91 MOF/NF provides a low overpotential of 235 mV and a small Tafel slope of 30.3 mV dec-1 at a current density of 10 mA cm-2 . More importantly, a water-splitting device assembled with Pt/C/NF and V0.09 -Ni0.91 MOF/NF as cathode and anode yielded a cell voltage of 1.96 V@1000 mA cm-2 , thereby outperforming the-state-of-the-art RuO2 (+) ||Pt/C(-) . Our work sheds new insight on preparing stable, efficient OER electrocatalysts and a promising method for designing various MOF-based materials.

Niobium-Incorporated CoSe2 Nanothorns with Electronic Structural Alterations for Efficient Alkaline Oxygen Evolution Reaction at High Current Density.

Developing cost-effective, highly active, and robust electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at high current density is a critical challenge in water electrolysis since the sluggish kinetics of the OER significantly impedes the energy conversion efficiency of overall water splitting. Here, a 1D nanothorn-like Nb-CoSe2 /CC (CC=carbon cloth) structure was developed as an efficient OER catalyst. The optimized Nb-CoSe2 /CC catalyst exhibited remarkable OER performance with the low overpotentials of 220 mV at 10 mA cm-2 and 297 mV 200 mA cm-2 and a small Tafel slope (54.1 mV dec-1 ) in 1.0 m KOH electrolyte. More importantly, the Nb-CoSe2 /CC electrode displayed superior stability after 60 h of continuous operation. In addition, cell voltages of 1.52 and 1.93 V were required to achieve 10 and 500 mA cm-2 for the electrolyzer made of Nb-CoSe2 /CC (anode) and the Pt/C (cathode). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations combined with experimental results revealed that incorporating niobium into the CoSe2 could optimize the adsorption free energy of the reaction intermediates and enhance the conductivity to improve the catalytic activity further. Additionally, the super-hydrophilicity of Nb-CoSe2 /CC resulting from the surface defects increased the surface wettability and facilitated reaction kinetics. These results indicate that Nb-CoSe2 /CC intrinsically enhances OER performance and possesses potential practical water electrolysis applications.

Electronic Modulation of Pt Nanoparticles on Ni3N-Mo2C by Support-Induced Strategy for Accelerating Hydrogen Oxidation and Evolution.

Electrochemical energy conversion and storage through hydrogen has revolutionized sustainable energy systems using fuel cells and electrolyzers. Regrettably, the sluggish alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) hampers advances in fuel cells. Herein, we report a Pt/Ni3N-Mo2C bifunctional electrocatalyst toward HOR and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The Pt/Ni3N-Mo2C exhibits remarkable HOR/HER performance in alkaline media. The mass activity at 50 mV and exchange current density of HOR are 5.1 and 1.5 times that of commercial Pt/C, respectively. Moreover, it possesses an impressive HER activity with an overpotential of 11 mV @ 10 mA cm-2, which is lower than that of Pt/C and most reported electrocatalysts under the same conditions. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations combined with experimental results reveal that Pt/Ni3N-Mo2C not only possesses an optimal balance between hydrogen binding energy (HBE) and OH- adsorption but also facilitates water adsorption and dissociation on the catalyst surface, which contribute to the excellent HOR/HER performance. Thus, this work may guide bifunctional HOR/HER catalyst design in the conversion and transport of energy.

Interfacial Electronic Coupling of NC@WO3 -W2 C Decorated Ru Clusters as a Reversible Catalyst toward Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Oxidation and Evolution Reactions.

Designing a bifunctional catalyst for hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is significant toward developing sustainable hydrogen-electric conversion systems. Herein, a cost-effective bifunctional catalyst, Ru/N-doped Carbon@WO3 -W2 C (Ru/NC@WOC), was developed via co-precipitation and polyol reduction. Ru/NC@WOC showed superior HOR/HER activity in alkaline solution in comparison with commercial Pt/C. HOR electrochemical tests showed that the mass activity at 0.05 V (1.96  m A µ g R u - 1 ) and exchange-current density were 7.5 and 1.2 times that of Pt/C. Additionality, Ru/NC@WOC exhibited up 30-fold HOR activity in mass activity compared with benchmark Ru/C. Moreover, it also displayed exceptional electrocatalytic HER with overpotentials of 31 mV at 10 mA cm-2 and 119 mV at 100 mA cm-2 , surpassing Pt/C, benchmark Ru/C, and most of the previously reported electrocatalysts. The outstanding catalytic activity of Ru/NC@WOC probably arises from the synergy between Ru and NC@WOC matrix, suitable hydrogen binding energy, and highly conductive substrate. Thus, this work may pave a new avenue to fabricate low-cost bifunctional HOR/HER catalysts for alkaline fuel cells and water electrolyzer.

Nanowire-structured FeP-CoP arrays as highly active and stable bifunctional electrocatalyst synergistically promoting high-current overall water splitting.

The design and construction of highly efficient and durable non-noble metal bifunctional catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media is essential for developing the hydrogen economy. To achieve this goal, we have developed a bifunctional nanowire-structured FeP-CoP array catalyst on carbon cloth with uniform distribution through in-situ hydrothermal growth and phosphating treatment. The unique nanowire array structure and the strong electronic interaction between FeP and CoP species have been confirmed. Electrochemical studies have found that the designed Fe0.14Co0.86-P/CC catalyst appears excellent HER (130 mV@10 mA cm-2)/OER (270 mV@10 mA cm-2) activity and stability. Moreover, the bifunctional Fe0.14Co0.86-P/CC(+/-) catalyst is also used in simulated industrial water splitting system, where the pair catalyst requires about 1.95 and 2.14 V to reach 500 and 1000 mA cm-2, even superior to the control RuO2(+)||Pt/C(-) catalyst, showing good industrial application prospects. These excellent electrocatalytic properties are attributed to the synergy between FeP and CoP species as well as the unique microstructure, which can accelerate charge transfer, expose more active sites and enhance electrolyte diffusion and gas emissions.

Structure-regulated Ru particles decorated P-vacancy-rich CoP as a highly active and durable catalyst for NaBH4 hydrolysis.

NaBH4 is considered the best hydrogen storage material due to its high hydrogen content of 10.6 wt% and good stability. However, NaBH4 hydrolysis requires an efficient catalyst because of the sluggish reaction kinetics. In this work, we have demonstrated a process of preparing a cobalt phosphide-supported Ru particulate nanocatalyst with abundant phosphorus vacancies for the first time. Electron paramagnetic resonance and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the synthesized Ru9.8/r-CoP catalyst has ample phosphorus vacancies, and Ru species are small particles (~2.5 nm) with uniform dispersion, respectively. More importantly, the optimized Ru9.8/r-CoP catalyst has the lowest activation energy (45.3 kJ mol-1) and exhibits excellent catalytic performance for NaBH4 hydrolysis with a high hydrogen generation rate 9783.3 mLH2 min-1 gcat-1 at 25 °C, which is higher than most of the cobalt-based catalysts. Moreover, the Ru9.8/r-CoP catalyst also shows good reusability. For example, the catalytic performance only declined by ca. 14% after five cycles. The excellent catalytic performance of Ru9.8/r-CoP is attributed to the abundant phosphorus vacancies along with a large specific surface area of r-CoP, which makes the Ru particles smaller and more uniformly dispersed on the surface, thereby exposing more active sites to show improved performance.

Metal-Organic Framework (MOF)-Derived Electron-Transfer Enhanced Homogeneous PdO-Rich Co3 O4 as a Highly Efficient Bifunctional Catalyst for Sodium Borohydride Hydrolysis and 4-Nitrophenol Reduction.

Developing a bifunctional catalyst with low cost and high catalytic performance in NaBH4 hydrolysis for H2 generation and selective reduction of nitroaromatics will make a significant impact in the field of sustainable energy and water purification. Herein, a low-loading homogeneously dispersed Pd oxide-rich Co3 O4 polyhedral catalyst (PdO-Co3 O4 ) with concave structure is reported by using a metal-organic framework (MOF)-templated synthesis method. The results show that the PdO-Co3 O4 catalyst has an exceptional turnover frequency (3325.6 molH2 min-1 molPd -1 ), low activation energy (43.2 kJ mol-1 ), and reasonable reusability in catalytic H2 generation from NaBH4 hydrolysis. Moreover, the optimized catalyst also shows excellent catalytic performance in the NaBH4 selective reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminiphenol with a high first-order reaction rate of approximately 1.31 min-1 . These excellent catalytic properties are mainly ascribed to the porous concave structure, monodispersed Pd oxide, as well as the unique synergy between PdO and Co3 O4 species, which result in a large specific surface area, high conductivity, and fast solute transport and gas emissions.

Dissolution reconstruction of electron-transfer enhanced hierarchical NiSx-MoO2 nanosponges as a promising industrialized hydrogen evolution catalyst beyond Pt/C.

An industrial electro-catalyst obliges three essential features, such as scalability, generating high current density at low overpotential, and long-term stability. Herein, we tackle those challenges using NiSx-MoO2 nanosponges on carbon cloth based hydrogen evolution catalyst. The target catalyst was synthesized through a series of simple and scalable methods, including dissolution, reconstruction, and chemical vapor deposition. The optimized NiSx-MoO2/CC catalyst exhibits a superior hydrogen evolution catalytic activity far better than commercial Pt/C meanwhile surpasses widely used industrial Raney Ni catalyst by many aspects, namely lower overpotential at 500 mA cm-2 current density and smaller Tafel plot in 30 wt% KOH solution. This excellent electrocatalytic activity is attributed to enhanced mass transfer and faster reaction kinetics due to the unique hierarchical porous structures, as well as the synergistic electron transfer effect between the two components of NiSx and MoO2 species. This work may provide a new strategy for the design of better hydrogen evolution catalyst for industrial application.

Comprehensive Study of All-Solid-State Z-Scheme Photocatalytic Systems of ZnO/Pt/CdZnS.

We have investigated a Z-scheme based on a ZnO/Pt/CdZnS photocatalyst, active in the presence of a complex medium composed of acetic acid and benzyl alcohol, the effects of which on the catalyst stability and performance are studied. Transmission electron microscopy images showed uniformly dispersed sub-nanometer Pt particles. Inductively coupled plasma and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses suggested that Pt is sandwiched between ZnO and CdZnS. An apparent quantum yield (AQY) of 34% was obtained over the [ZnO]4/1 wt %Pt/CdZnS system at 360 nm, 2.5-fold higher than that of 1%Pt/CdZnS (14%). Furthermore, an AQY of 16% was observed using [ZnO]4/1 wt %Pt/CdZnS, which was comparable to that of 1 wt %Pt/CdZnS (10%) at 460 nm. On the basis of these results, we proposed a charge transfer mechanism, which was confirmed through femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. Finally, we identified the two main factors that affected the stability of the catalyst, which were the sacrificial reagent and the acidic pH.