Strong electron coupling between amorphous WP and MoSe2/ZnCdS S-scheme heterojunction for enhanced wide spectrum photocatalytic hydrogen production

Abstract

The photogenerated carrier separation efficiency is a key factor for limiting the photocatalytic activity. In this work, an amorphous WP modified S-scheme MoSe2/ZnCdS (WP/MoSe2/ZCS) heterojunction was synthesized for wide spectrum photocatalytic hydrogen production. After initially forming an S-scheme heterojunction by compositing ZnCdS with nano flower-shaped MoSe2, the light absorption ability of the bimetallic sulfide was significantly enhanced, along with an improved photogenerated carrier separation efficiency. Additionally, the introduction of WP as a co-catalyst not only provides more active sites for photocatalytic reactions, but also enhances the photogenerated electrons transfer through the synergistic effect of strong electronic coupling and S-scheme MoSe2/ZCS heterojunction.The significant enhancement of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity of 7％WP/MoSe2/ZCS reached 47.7 mmol g−1 h−1, which is 4.72 times higher than that of ZnCdS (10.1 mmol g−1 h−1). The strong electron coupling effects and S-scheme electron ransfer mechanism was proved by in-situ XPS and Density functional theory (DFT) calculations. This work provides a new strategy for the construction of high-efficiency photocatalyst with strong electronic coupling.