Facile deposition of CoMoS4 on flower-like CdIn2S4 microspheres: Enhanced charge separation and efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Abstract

Constructing heterojunction is an efficient strategy to boost the charge carrier separation rate and promote the catalytic performance for photocatalysts. In this paper, amorphous CoMoS4 was first deposited on the surface of the flower-like microspheres of CdIn2S4 to fabricate CoMoS4/CdIn2S4 composites for accelerating the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution (PHE) rate under simulated sunlight irradiation. The compositions, morphologies, and photoelectrochemical properties of the obtained samples were examined. SEM images show that a great number of CoMoS4 nanoparticles were filled into the gaps of CdIn2S4 microspheres. Optical characterization shows that the combination of CoMoS4 and CdIn2S4 strongly strengthened their light absorption capability. The remarkably promoted PHE rate of the optimum 5%-CCIS catalyst (2196 μmol g−1 h−1) was 8.4 folds larger than that for CdIn2S4. More importantly, the heterostructured 5%-CCIS composite also exhibited good activity stability in the three-cycled experiments. Photoelectrochemical measurements provided the energy band potentials and demonstrated the efficient charge separation efficiency, consistent with the photocatalytic activity of CoMoS4/CdIn2S4 composites for hydrogen production. This study will provide a new strategy to fabricate CoMoS4-based heterostructures for boosting the hydrogen evolution under visible light.